Magpie by Eric Miller

Magpie
by Eric Miller

Gently recruited in a way that held my reluctance at bay,
I succumbed to the chime of an iron triangle, despite its
political pitch.

A series of appointments, on succeeding rungs of the
organization ladder, hoisted me to heights of influence
from where I could act on behalf of the members’ cries;
but self-agenda, turf-protection, and envy triangulated me
in the confines of futility.

Calls for loyalty and claims of betrayal filled the air, and
the triangle chime first heard so sweetly on the finely
tuned, forked tongue of recruitment became an off-key
fulcrum of discord.

The grass may look greener, and the forest plush, but beware
of politics’ allure, for it is there that the magpie lurks.

Author bio:

Eric Miller is a retired dentist who has laid down his drill for a quill. His work appears or is forthcoming in Foundling Review, The Storyteller, Calliope Nerve, Stories that Lift, The Cynic Online Magazine, Word Slaw, The Stray Branch, and Flutter Poetry Journal.