Tech - Poetry inspired by Denise Levertov

Tech - poetry inspired by Denise Levertov 

Most days I’m grateful for the tech of the times

Not everyone has it, not everyone knows 

Nor do I always see it provide and destroy

Are tools an inheritance from benevolent giants?

Perhaps only bait to enslave our weak minds?

A wrench for a distinct nut the certified mechanic loosens?

The letters from monks dispensing the word of god,

Then Gutenbergs’ printing press, and now...

 Love or hate propaganda for this barbaric world.

The advent of  the cotton gin harvested like light

Breaking the chains of field laborers 

Stealing the soil’s nutrients, ignoring better crops.

The camera gave future memories to our families.

We didn’t always smile, we didn’t always love.

That man was lynched and that man killed by a mob.

Is it tech’s fault that I know of the atrocities 

Should I be pleased by this? Should I search for more?

To know that my neighbor is not the Senator I thought?

Is it tech’s fault that a man can die in the street 

Under knee of the law? And I too can feel the pain 

He and his family feel? Under knee of the law.

Is it tech? Is it good tech that I wish never came about?

But for my own protection? And for the protection of 

Buildings and businesses and families and passersby?

Of course it is good for the knowledge of good.

But as fires help us in cooking the perfect meal

They too are used in destroying an innocent home.