A former friend of mine
tricked me into becoming
something I am not

The volunteer President
of our condo association,
a position I clearly cannot afford
midst trifling disassociations.

We were starting our Autumn tradition
of arguing about next year’s budget
which typically continues
until we recommend something utterly preposterous
to our membership
which they will certify
remains inevitably inept
and fail to ratify.

As usual
I had brought my manicure
and pedicure kit
and was just starting to work on my nails
when I noticed our Treasurer
became more animated
whittling his thick stick
as he became more concerned
about what residents are losing

More than interested
in what resilience we all might gain
by cooperatively discussing
what we hoped to win
by remaining together to complain
rather than lose
by fostering further
whittled down polarization,
debate,
predative Patriarchal Capitalist
zero-sum economic games
not for the faint hearted to explain
and weak-nailed to refrain,
furthering our political apartheid
without EarthJustice
therapeutic rebate

Our parsimonious Treasurer
operates from a presumed strategic position
of holding Aces
in all four empowered
and enlightened suites,
empirical voices,
win/lose trumping win/win choices:

1. Legal institutional document authority
   which provokes a yawn,
2. Political membership voting power
   with an 88 to 5 majority
   on his oppressive side,
3. Economic responsibility
   to our tax and fee paying majority
   with neglected cuticles, and
4. social-cultural expectations
   for rational
   Straight White Male privileged
   self-interested
   capitalist business behaviors
   like playing golf
   and paying lap dancers
   to do what I would gladly do for free
   if I could avoid these dreadful
   defeating meetings.

While switching to my feet,
I also noticed
our tax-payer responsible Educator
vigorously responded
while vehemently knitting two
and furiously purling three

She moves away from
prior win/win positions
favoring therapeutic strategies
when she votes against
a loan for beat-down residents
to fix our leaky
crumbling corporate problems

Rather than abstaining
because now,
unlike last week,
she has become unclear
about whom
and possibly why
the Treasurer
and the Accountant
and the Bookkeeper
will debit just the 88 Residents
or the 5-vote School
for improvements
exclusive to the residential side
of our sadly governing equation.

I also notice
our scarf-knitting Educator
has moved away from supporting
a win/win trade formerly championed:
White Mansion for the School
and Glass Factory for the Residents

Now she contests this even-steven
to invest in another strategic competition,
win/lose backpedaling,
now claiming disproportionate future values
for bargaining,
debate positioning,
repolarizing
while she rips out yet another ribbing row,
another year too ripped off
not grow

Perhaps,
one day in our dismal future
we will see where this might go

More cooperatively thawing
drawing toward win/win center
for indigenous sacred wisdom values:

1. licit equity of whittling natures
   and knitting medicine spirits,
2. politically crafted co-empathy,
3. economic health-nailed co-investments, and
4. socially therapeutic
   restorative justice
   favoring win/win strategic right
   and left-handed
   and footed
   health is polyculturing wealth
   communication

Because clearly this night
we are not having our best
multicultural non-fright
cooperative mediation
of momentary delight

Wherein we retain well-manicured focus
on what we anticipate
moving forward more beautifully together
rather than lost in whittled down anxiety
about what we will never support

For lack of egocentric
anthropocentric
monotheistic
monocultural predative gain

As our corporate Treasurer’s win/lose strategy
to some better deferred peace day
EarthJustice regain
without all our polarizing
hocus pocus

To retain a more regenerative win/win wedding
less autonomously win/lose divorced

More cooperatively
and therapeutically discussed
of course
while I re-examine my left pinky
with absent minded disgust

About a now former friend of mine
who tricked me into becoming
some hang-nailed treatment
I am not.