Hello, blog readers, and welcome to another installment of Pick-a-Poem! For those who aren’t familiar with this feature, every Wednesday we choose a new poem to share with you here on the blog. All of these poems come from the very helpful website Poetry Daily, which has a new poem for you to discover every day. This week we’re featuring a poem entitled Induction, which is written by Annie Freud.
According to her bio page, Annie Freud has had two collections of poetry published. These include The Best Man That Ever Was (2007), which was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and The Mirabelles (2010), which was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. She has been named by the Poetry Book Society as one of the Next Generation Poets 2014.
Induction by Annie Freud
I am here to welcome you
and to help you prepare for what is about to happen.
I can see that you’re hoping that we’ve decided to call it off for today
but I’m afraid that is something we never do.
We consider ourselves very lucky that you’re here at all
and our years of experience have taught us that it’s always better
to go ahead as planned.First, at the risk of repeating what has already been said in the letter,
you have been personally selected for this by people who know
what they’re doing. We have no doubt in your ability to cope.
And the chances of anything going wrong on the technical front
are so minuscule as to render any concern you may have
as insignificant. At this point we usually offer
a glass of water as you won’t be taking anything with you
once the doors are closed.Secondly, there’s the science that governs our practice.
There’s been some debate in the public domain about why
up to now we haven’t opted for the so-called virtual route
and looked at ways of mimicking reality.
The consensus is that absolutely nothing beats
real human beings—the richness of their emotional responses,
their capacity for facing the unknown—it’s truly humbling.
And our concern for the integrity of any data we gather is genuine.
In return, our job is infinitely more rewarding, knowing
that we are doing our utmost to secure your co-operation
and make you as comfortable as possible.I think that’s everything covered.
If you would kindly undress in one of our cubicles;
your protective clothing is ready for you to put on.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s poem! For more posts like this, click this link.
— Jet Fuel Blog Editor, Mary Egan
