"Self-Inquiry Before the Job Interview" by Gary Soto

Gary Soto is a very popular contemporary poet, especially famous for his contributions to Chicano literature. His poetry and prose focuses on the life of the Mexican American community, deriving inspiration from his own background. 

Self-Inquiry Before the Job Interview 

Did you sneeze?
Yes, I rid myself of the imposter inside me.

Did you iron your shirt?
Yes, I used the steam of mother's hate.

Did you wash your hands?
Yes, I learned my hygiene from a raccoon.

I prayed on my knees, and my knees answered with pain.
I gargled. I polished my shoes until I saw who I was.
I inflated my résumé by employing my middle name.

I walked to my interview, early,
The sun like a ring on an electric stove.
I patted my hair when I entered the wind of a revolving door.
The guard said, For a guy like you, it's the 19th floor.

The economy was up. Flags whipped in every city plaza
In America. This I saw for myself as I rode the elevator,
Empty because everyone had a job but me.

Did you clean your ears?
Yes, I heard my fate in the drinking fountain's idiotic drivel.

Did you slice a banana into your daily mush?
I added a pinch of salt, two raisins to sweeten my breath.

Did you remember your pen?
I remembered my fingers when the elevator opened.

I shook hands that dripped like a dirty sea.
I found a chair and desk. My name tag said my name.
Through the glass ceiling, I saw the heavy rumps of CEOs.
Outside my window, the sun was a burning stove,
All of us pushing papers
To keep it going.

 I think this poem would be pretty neat to read aloud. It's titled "Self-Inquiry," so we know that it's a conversation that the speaker is having with himself, but most of it is framed like a dialogue. The tone seems sardonic in the way that he is "preparing" for the interview. It seems as though the narrator is already resigned to be unsuccessful because the image directly in the middle of the poem: "Flags whipped in every city plaza / In America. This I saw for myself as I rode the elevator, / Empty because everyone had a job but me." This poem seems like more than a downer before an interview, it is an authentic critique of American society. At least, society in the way that the narrator sees it. It's possible that the dialogue represents the narrator's attempt to figure out how he fits into this society, which already seems to not have a place for him. The parallel structure is something to be considered as well, especially because it actually varies- it's not all parallel, it's misleading at points.

http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poet/gary-soto