Twelve Rounds of Notes

Twelve rounds of notes, twelve days to go (Is this AI?)
On the first round of notes, my stakeholders sent to me
A flag on my em dash (Is this AI?)

December first, the brief came in, the office tree half-lit (Quick thought)
Dana wrote the line by ten forty-seven. That was it
One line, one dash, it sounded like the first snow of the year
Em leaned across from the next desk: "That's the one. Stop there."
She sent it up the chain and reached to get her coat (Quick thought)
Then the inbox chimed. Twelve people. "Love it! One quick note."

Little dots start typing (Oh no)
Then a calendar invite (Oh no)
"Looping in the brand team" (Oh no)
"Can we sync tonight?" (Oh no)
And by Friday, Dana's singing

On the fourth round of notes, my stakeholders sent to me
Four "quick thoughts"
Three brand-guide rules
Two legal redlines
And a flag on my em dash (Is this AI?)

Is this AI? (No, it's me!)
Is this AI? (It's my em dash!)
I've used em dashes since before your bot was born
Is this AI? (No, it's me!)

By round six the thread had forty people, half on PTO
The CMO replied-all from a ski lift in the snow
Legal changed "a little magic" into "results may vary"
Brand said "warmer," Europe said "colder," someone typed "more merry"
Somebody pasted in the logo, twice, and changed the name
Dana put the em dash back. They took it out again

"Did we try it shorter?" (Oh no)
"Can we see it longer?" (Oh no)
"Love the energy, but..." (Oh no)
"What if it was... stronger?" (Oh no)
And by Monday, Dana's singing

On the eighth round of notes, my stakeholders sent to me
Eight "per my last email"s
Seven fonts a-fighting
Six VPs replying
Five! Make! It! Pop!
Four "quick thoughts"
Three brand-guide rules
Two legal redlines
And a flag on my em dash (Is this AI?)

Is this AI? (No, it's me!)
Is this AI? (Still my em dash!)
I've used em dashes since before your bot was born
Is this AI? (No, it's me!)

December twenty-third, eleven fifty-eight
The party's going upstairs, and the file says "final final," late
Dana reads the line out loud. It doesn't sound like anyone
Em slides a page across the desk: the first one
The one nobody saved
Dana doesn't change a word. She sends it anyway

On the twelfth round of notes, my stakeholders sent
Twelve sign-offs pending
Eleven Slacks a-pinging
Ten "let's circle back"s
Nine logos bigger
Eight "per my last email"s
Seven fonts a-fighting
Six VPs replying
Five! Make! It! Pop!
Four "quick thoughts"
Three brand-guide rules
Two legal redlines
And they approved version one! (Is this AI?)

They approved version one! (No, it's me!)
Version one! (With the em dash!)
I've used em dashes since before your bot was born
Twelve rounds of notes, and they picked mine

"Love the em dash—"