Used That Way (Earlier Version)

I would like to be treated like an individual
and not as an anecdotal source
written up in a magazine a journal

of great repute reviewed by someone's peers
making the career of someone
far younger, even brilliant

or shown upon the screen
of the ultimate power point presentation
making the scene as a sliver of the pie chart

though it's art Im sure of that, of a certain sort

to undergird someone's mission statement
final thesis on the subject.
my life having furnished details

in places I myself would most likely
not be welcomed much less hired.
to earn another praise is perhaps the

action of saints. to use another's lifetime
to grind out statistical reports
I cant have any mercy for.

or fellow feeling.

forgive me if I am wrong.
but all of us here
clear examples of everything

wrong with our country
so some say
just dont want to be used that way.

mary angela douglas 1 september 2019