So, instead of writing a serious post today—several serious ones are coming—I had asked Richard Porter, our Nonprofit Poet Laureate of the Milky Way Galaxy, to write some poems that capture the essence of our sector. Richard, you may recall, won the first-ever Nonprofit Poetry Contest. His poem, replicated below, with its heartbreaking earnestness and yearning, captured the hearts of the judges. He follows it with three more poems.
Our field is full of talented individuals, including many artists. Thanks, Richard and other artists, for illuminating our world.
“Richard vs. the Line-Item Budget”
(1st Place Winner of the Nonprofit Poetry Contest 2016)
Please
do not make me beg
for $$$ to buy a laminator.
I have suffered the 1001 indignities of social work
and all I want
is a nice A4 document
pressed between 2 silky-soft sheets of
ethylene-vinyl acetate.
Fresh pressed
I want it to warm my hands.
I want our funders to esteem us
based upon the quality
of our printed promotional materials.
I want laminating sheets that are as
extremely durable and stress resistant
as I would like to be.
“Database”
i dream of a database
pure
with
algorithms like strong hands
to knead
shifting clouds of ones & zeroes
infallible database
accurate to the decimal point
navigable
& never buggy
database with up to the second
case notes
maintained by
three
full time/well paid
admins
with access to good coffee
doing
data entry
surveys
ceaseless internal audits
*
though
i know
technology
can only supplement
and never replace the finest lo-fi tools of our trade:
eye contact
the listening ear
coffee & aspirin
a diamond infinity of patience
“Volunteer Appreciation”
The theme for this year’s volunteer party
Was going to be
“Our Volunteers Are Outta This World:
The Cosmic Bowling Experience”
Imagine
Two hours
Three frames
Discount group rate on shoe rentals
Pizza
Lasers
Fog
Banners (Confetti?)
Team building
But then
Twenty five out of twenty five volunteers surveyed
Circled they “strongly disagree” with the idea of going bowling
So we’re doing a potluck dessert thing
Low key
I will keep my ball and shoes in the trunk
Just in case
Anyone changes their mind
“House Calls”
Note from Richard: These are real experiences from my days as a case manager. Some details have been altered to respect the confidentiality of my former clients.
this is a fire hazard
cramped apartment
a collection of
floor to ceiling cookbooks
I walk uncomfortably through a tight maze
of grinning Rachael Rays
cramped apartment
soot grey walls
boom box Aerosmith
man and teenage son sit side by side on couch
watching me through slit eyes
arms crossed
chain smoking
it is my job to tell them to clean their kitchen
because the ants
cramped apartment
man with intimidating muscles
offers to let me pet his ball python
“He’s calm. He just ate three frozen mice.”
I say no thanks
snake smells stale, sinister
cramped apartment
guy lying on sagged mattress
walrus mustache
feeding sour cream and cheddar potato chips
to a rabbit named Mr. Bun Bun
cramped apartment
trying to fill out paperwork with client
she’s watching the end of Nutty Professor 2
and won’t stop laughing
I give up and join her in watching the rest of the movie
okay
it’s a pretty funny movie
***
Richard works for Volunteer Chore Services of Snohomish County. “Our program matches volunteers to disabled, low-income seniors for housework and transportation services. This allows seniors to age in place in their community.”
***
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