Efficient

 
Efficient
 
We’ve learned to be efficient, work at speed—
To squeeze production out of everything,
Including time and people. So it is
That things requiring patience, things unclear
Are things avoided. Who has time for that?
So all that’s muddled or entangled is
Not clarified—as that would take our time—
But left for others—or is left as is.
 
And so we also have no time to hear
What others, troubled, have to say to us—
Or even look, beneath the surfaces
Of people and of things, to try and see
The causes of the problems that arise.
 
So everything is black and white and clear,
And those who see the grays and speak of these
Are shunned. So problems grow, in scope and strength,
And go unrecognized and unaddressed—
Until disasters come—and then we find
Some things or people that can take the blame—
And then we’re done with that, and saunter on.
For some of us, there’s neither guilt nor shame.
 
2022 June 16^th, Thu.
Brooklyn, New York