[Intro]
[Upright piano strikes one chord; two beats of silence follow.]

[HR]
“Please understand
This is a developmental conversation.”

[Verse 1]
[HR]
Your technical knowledge is broad but severe.
[Odin]
The future is rarely designed to reassure.
[HR]
Your tone can create an avoidable fear.
[Odin]
A wolf does not shrink when the language is pure.
[HR]
We value your candor but question the odds.
[All]
Welcome to the performance review of the gods.

[Chorus]
Performance review of the gods,
Five-point scales for thunder and odds.
“Needs improvement”: sacrifice.
“Strong on vision”: weak on price.
Performance review of the gods—
Check the box and praise the fraud.

[Verse 2]
[HR]
Your ravens show low engagement at work.
[Odin]
Thought has been locked out; memory is hurt.
[HR]
Your spear is a possible workplace concern.
[Odin]
It leans by the printer and waits its return.
[HR]
Would coaching assist with the role’s new demands?
[Odin]
Can coaching return what you took from their hands?

[Chorus]
Performance review of the gods,
Five-point scales for thunder and odds.
“Needs improvement”: sacrifice.
“Strong on vision”: weak on price.
Performance review of the gods—
Check the box and praise the fraud.

[Instrumental Break]
[Upright piano and guitar alternate five clipped rating chords while bass refuses the final resolution.]

[Bridge]
[HR]
Please name one area where you could improve.
[Odin]
I stayed when I knew I had reason to move.
[HR]
Please name one action supporting your growth.
[Odin]
Stop giving liars the shelter of oaths.
[HR]
Please state your objective for next fiscal year.
[Odin]
To speak without billing, and leave without fear.

[Break]
Rating: one.
Rating: two.
Rating: insufficient
To measure what is true.

[Build-up]
I look at the panel, the boxes, the pen.
I think of the tree and the nine nights again.
A sacrifice chosen has meaning and cost.
A sacrifice priced by another is lost.

[Final Chorus]
Performance review of the gods,
Keep your scales, your forms and odds.
You marked down memory, thought and sight,
Then called your measurements objective and right.
Performance review of the gods—
I will not fit your approved façade.

[Outro]
[HR]
“Do you acknowledge the review as received?”
[Odin]
“Received is not the same as believed.”
I sign beside one sentence, plain:
No further review will be required again.
