Some people were created by God to be happily and productively efficient. God bless them! And, oh my! they can be useful people to have around. I’ve known some who are also highly creative, and I’ve noticed that they can be as productive in their creativity as they are in everything else they set their hands to.
But for the rest of us, it’s best that creativity and efficiency never meet. Hence this poem…
the Efficiency poem
the Efficiency poem
by Gail Ruth
for some of us humans
the most terrifying notion on earth
is Efficiency
Chop chop!
Just do it!
Snap to it now!
while other frightening prospects
such as sorrow and suffering
might form
jewels of
character
and compassion
Efficiency is heartless, quenching
ebb and flow, void
of creativity
of color
of beautiful human flaw
when the Product is the focus
and the producer is a Means
to an End that is
For the Common Good
and of course
Fiscally Profitable
our hearts cower and quake
our gentleness
goes into hiding
and we are hostage
and oppressed
and when Efficiency spots
our unique gifts and creativities
it pounces
and demands
that we devise
A Plan for Production
and what gets squeezed
out of us are
poor pathetic creations
stress-induced pathologies
and defective reasonings
ah, but the Friends of Efficiency
are quite pleased with our sad little
Clone Creations
so Efficient
so Productive
so Marketable!
and pat us sympathetically
for our (needlessly)
stress-induced
illnesses
and neuroticsms
but no! we might change the world
if we guard our dreams with strong
fences of delight
and therein
playfully explore
our uncharted wonders
© 2008 - 2021 Gail Ruth. All rights reserved.