Consultant

 Look at him! A consultant, 

With laptop bag and carry-on, 

Trudging past the lighted signs 

Of closing shops and restaurants; 

You can see the crazy week 

Of sleepless nights, of earnest fights, 

Reflected in his pale red eyes; 

But it's strange - were you to go 

And tap his shoulders drooping low 

He'll turn around with nothing but 

A smiling face! 

A smiling face that's attentive, 

A smiling face that's engaging, 

A smiling face that understands 

That you have all the rights to think 

That he has answers ready-made 

For any quest that you seem fit 

To ask of him. 

He knows his words are important - 

Every one that leaves his lips 

And imprints in the minds of men, 

In reviews and documents; 

Hence he thinks and answers well, 

Sometimes in long-wound sentences, 

But more often, a terse reply - 

No more than that. 

More than that, he doesn't want 

To just let go with "I don't know" 

And pushes thoughts to frontiers 

Unexplored unimagined 

To find a cue - an estimate - 

And then improve upon it 'til 

His quest brings forth, in slow progress, 

Dimensions new to masticate 

And, by the way, he demonstrates 

That he agrees with Bonaparte; 

Now you now the gravity 

With which he says his cherished phrase - 

"It depends!" 

It depends on how you see 

The consultant - as good or bad; 

I, for one, would view him as 

An innovator of our times!