Friday, April 23, 2021

Oops

 



Oops

 

A massive diesel drill rig

has toppled into the river.

Rain undermined the plank

roadway, the caterpillar treads

flailed, and a mudslide tripped

the rig into shallow water.

 

This drill didn’t just stumble.

You can see how the stonework

collapsed and allowed the crude

temporary road to slip away.

Hardhats stand around gazing

with disgust. Bridge construction

 

will halt for days or weeks while

the most powerful wreckers

trundle from deep in Ohio

or as far away as Alaska

to shoulder this helpless monster

upright on its mucky footing.

 

Luckily no one was hurt,

but our collective industrial

confidence has been shattered.

You claim that if everyone

properly read D. H. Lawrence

we would never mess with machines

 

I agree we’re all guilty of crimes

against nature and humanity,

but if the right words could absolve us

wouldn’t I be first to apply them

to dings and dents in the universe

and make my mark forever?


 


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