Bearing Witness to the times: System Partially Down

“Phoenix immigrant mother deported to Mexico amid protests”

 (Photo by Rob Schumacher / AP)

System Partially Down

In the midst of a busy day

Conflict arose.

We have a system in our workplace

To make things more efficient.

It mostly works

Except when it doesn’t.

Conflict arose

When I needed that space

At the same time my coworker

Needed that space.

He did not like

My taking the space.

I could have waited

But my work was important.

His work was important, too.

Hard feelings that day.

No one’s fault

But a flawed system

Putting us at odds.

And so we live

Within flawed systems –

Sometimes thwarting our plans,

Sometimes placing us at odds

With one another.

I fall back to an old zen story about an empty boat:

A man sitting in his boat was rammed

By another boat.

Anger immediately arose within him.

Turning,

He saw that the boat was empty,

Simply adrift.

With no person, no motive, no agenda to rage against,

The man’s anger completely dissipated.

I try to see our flawed system

As an empty boat

When I’m placed at odds

With colleagues.

It helps me navigate my day.

But I still feel great sorrow that

A flawed system

Separated a young mother from her family,

Deporting her to Mexico.

This is not just a case of an empty boat.

                                                          ~ CK

*    *    *    *

From my introductory post:

The best thing that poets can do is to bear witness to the times – articulate what is happening in the moment; speak to the real life experiences of your people.  I am setting myself a goal to write a poem each week that reflects what I see and experience in the life of our nation... if I can write one poem a week there will be some chronicle of our sacred/tested/doubtful union.

-