I. Target Markets:
who are you seeking?
asks the unseen
you point to any spot
within walking distance
offering two-for-one six-packs.
clarity
pulls up slowly
a broad net
catches only air.
II. The Elevator Pitch:
At the holiday open house,
the dark stranger
hungrily asks
what you do.
You describe
collecting cross-eyed dolls,
it keeps you
from plotting
your manager’s undoing.
Two minutes
is all you have
and you hold the line,
ending with a hook
nestled in their skin
III. Pareto’s Law
Gobsmacked and gaping
You wonder
why eighty percent
of your attention
goes to the twenty percent
who couldn’t care less.
most of your sustenance
comes from a vital few.
fuckallelse
IV. Finances
desultory
futures,
parched
revenue
streams
an empty coffee cup
and busking
on the corner.
V. Niche to Know You
Your specialty
is self improvement
by playing
tiddlywinks
with manhole covers.
VI. Marketing Strategy
Promotion
demands cans of spray paint
and provocative photos
leaked from greasy paper bags
while learning
how to stand
unclothed
VII. What’s in a Name?
You choose a brand,
only to discover
the dictionary
translates it
as throwing up
on the floor.
Days spent
scratching lines
onto paper
vision boards
and rough words.
Inspiration is not a sudden lightning strike;
it is distilled from all the humors,
drop by drop.
VIII. Benefits and Results
You mistook benefits
for the consequences
of a two o'clock in the morning
encounter.
Support and inspiration
are indeed noble,
but they remain ghostlike in the air.
give them
blood and bone
IX. Confidence
You open the session
by chanting emergency
psych codes like a mantra.
under the weight
of a lingering headache,
the story falters into self-doubt, yet
hiding in hesitation
a wild, playful energy
X. Eat Dessert First
Saving the best
for last
means starting
with sweetness in mind.
A dark, heavy shadow
looms over the page,
that old friend
fear
trying
to squeeze
a soul
into pointed shoes.
It takes
Leaving
the waiting place
Here
the warbled path
begins
October 2026 Poetry Project
Day 12 of 31
