[Intro: Female Lead]
A pink-edged folder waited by my chair.
Two water glasses. Legal by the door.
My manager called the meeting "support."
Performance Improvement Plan.

[Verse 1: Female Lead]
They praised my years of midnight release calls,
then listed three slow answers from last fall.
"Resists direction" meant I asked for staff.
"Poor collaboration" meant I kept the math.
The target said, "Improve your attitude."
No date or measure said what "good" would prove.

[Chorus: Female Lead]
Performance Improvement Plan,
a paper trap passed off as help.
Every target moves again,
then marks the miss against my name.
Call it care, call it a chance;
the exit waits behind the page.

[Verse 2: Female Lead]
My manager pulled up the survey field.
The sentence said, "Weekend duty cannot last."
He called it proof I dwelled upon the past.
Fiona asked how he knew it was mine.
"No name was technically revealed."
The careful lie sat sweating on the screen.

[Chorus: Female Lead]
Performance Improvement Plan,
a paper trap passed off as help.
Every target moves again,
then marks the miss against my name.
Call it care, call it a chance;
the exit waits behind the page.

[Piano Interlude: Uneasy Upright Waltz]

[Bridge: Second Female Vocal]
"Remove the survey line. Define the work.
Add staffing, dates and one clear point of contact."

[Bridge: Corporate Male Voice]
Legal squared the folder with the table.
"The language has already been approved."

[Breakdown: Female Lead]
Improve the tone.
Improve the face.
Improve the speed
without more space.

[Final Chorus: Two Female Leads with Gang Vocals]
Performance Improvement Plan,
the dates now show where people stand.
Every target, every shift,
every name behind the script.
Call it care; the record shows
who set the trap and moved the goal.

[Outro: Female Lead]
I signed to show that I had seen.
Beside my name: "Retaliation. Explain."
Performance Improvement Plan.