Human Resources

If you want the job, you must dress for the part.
In summer wear satin. In winter wear tweed.
The woman we hire has brains and a heart.

We’ll map your skills on an invisible chart,
then make our choice. You must concede
that, if you want the job, you must dress for the part.

We’ll need you here always, from the minute you start,
so please don’t fall ill, and for God’s sake, don’t breed!
The woman we hire has brains and a heart,

but proves neither too emotional nor too smart.
She should know how to bow and know how to bleed.
If you want the job, you must dress for the part—

not like a frump and not like a tart:
the plot should be dense but still a fun read.
The woman we hire has brains and a heart.

Meeting our expectations takes both science and art.
We’ll be in touch if you have what we need.
If you want the job, you must dress for the part.
The woman we hire has brains and a heart.

Jo Angela Edwins has published poems in various journals and anthologies and is the author of the chapbook Play (2016). She has received poetry awards from Winning Writers, Poetry Super Highway, and the South Carolina Academy of Authors and is a Pushcart Prize, Forward Prize, and Bettering American Poetry nominee. She is the first poet laureate of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. She lives in Florence, SC.