The Trough Poem by Barry Van Allen

He loved working for the State,
because the money was just great,
he knew the project could and should be done,
in less than half the time.

Both supervisors told him,
how to make his every move,
they had the skills,
they knew the job, he thought,
... he found out better soon.

It was a most frustrating argument,
as to how to close the distance,
between the spot he stood upon,
and the spot he was to be in.

' If you start off on your right foot,
then you will end up on your right foot ',
' but it depends upon the size of step,
and upon the inclination ',
as they considered,
how the world would be altered,
....and then received the envelope,
- - - he walked over to the spot,
- - - and both guys wrote him up!

With that blemish on his record,
and now his future much in doubt,
... it was clear they couldn't trust him,
to fill up his rookie snout.

They knew that it took two,
to tell one what to do,
otherwise the budget cuts,
would make them do work too.

This, of course, could never happen,
it could not be allowed,
if all that work were getting done,
then ' lay - offs ' soon would follow.

Throughout the coming summer,
he took the money from the state,
and helped with the investigation,
that has his bosses making license plates.