NICHOLAS GODEC

 Acquisition

As I walk through the office
in the shadow of a merger,
I see the executioner,
a speck on the horizon
in a sun-cast valley.
He will come as a friend
I suspect.
Me—chaff,
debris, a challenge
in a story
I’m not the hero of.
Who am I in this story?
Where did I enter, and
where do I leave?
The office coffee is
bitter, familiar.

Nick Godec writes poetry and short fiction, with works appearing in Brief Wilderness, El Portal, Flights, Grey Sparrow, Hedge Apple, Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Rue Scribe, Shark Reef, Sierra Nevada Review, Steam Ticket, and Thieving Magpie. He has a B.A. in history and an MBA from Columbia University and currently works in finance in New York City. Nick enjoys spending time with his wife Julia and their miniature pinscher, Emma.