Recessions, a poem by James Autry

James Autry is an author, poet, speaker and businessman. His poetry received national attention when Bill Moyers featured Autry on his "Power of the Word" Series. The interview with Autry from this series won an Emmy. Jim Autry does regular poetry readings in schools and communities. He’s a co-founder of the nationally known Des Moines National Poetry Festival. Whether writing about his boyhood experiences in Mississippi and Tennessee or about the pressures of corporate life, Autry's poems are the products of a man with something positive to say and the talent to say it.

Recessions by James Autry

Why do we keep on keeping on,
in the midst of such pressure,
when business is no good for no reason,
when the Fed does something
and interest rates do something
and somebody’s notion of consumer confidence does something
and the dogs won’t eat the dog food?

What keeps us working late at night
and going back every morning,
living on coffee and waiting for things to bottom out,
crunching numbers as if some answer
lay buried in a computer
and not out among the people who
suddenly and for no reason
are leaving their money in their pockets
and the products on the shelves?

Why don’t we just say screw it
instead of trying again,
instead of meandering into somebody’s office
with half an idea,
hoping he’ll have the other half,
hoping, what sometimes happens will happen,
that thing, that click, that moment
when two or three of us
gathered together or hanging out
get hit by something we’ve never tried
but know we can make work the first time?

Could that be it,
that we do all the dull stuff
just for those times
when a revelation rises among us
like something borning,
a new life, another hope
like something not visible catching the sun,
like a prayer answered?