Sunday, January 26, 2014

674 : Facilitate

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #145) presents a list of words
that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

country, facilitate, aspect, sent, strands, state,
sustain, write, time, plans, embrace, juggling

Facilitate

fa-cili-tate – a transitive verb, 
A verb that needs an object,
An awful word,
It gives the impression
Of stern officers of the state
Sent in with allotted time,
With clipboards and plans,
With small neat writing
On gridded paper.
Dot points
Capture all the strands,
All the aspects
Of a meeting of bodies
But not of minds,
A meeting that embodies
But doesn’t build,
That’s held
But is not upheld,
That devours the spirit
Not sustains it.
A facilitated meeting:
The arid country
Of juggled agendas
And compromised outcomes
That encompasses everything
And embraces nothing.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Print this post

11 comments:

  1. "That encompasses everything/And embraces nothing." That sounds like "sound and fury, signifying nothing." Sigh!

    Peace and joy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rob-bear - those two lines grabbed me as well... stunning lines in a terrific poem - Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those last 5 lines... wow.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have nailed just about every 'meeting' I've ever attended designed to 'facilitate' some goal or other! Last lines bring it home!!! :)

    ReplyDelete


  5. Hiya J Cosmo

    I enjoyed this and especially the last five lines:

    "The arid country
    Of juggled agendas
    And compromised outcomes
    That encompasses everything
    And embraces nothing.' Great Stuff... With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. J, facilitate has no place in a poem, in my opinion. However, it was saved by your last five lines. Well done.

    Pamela

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really like this:

    A facilitated meeting:
    The arid country
    Of juggled agendas
    And compromised outcomes
    That encompasses everything
    And embraces nothing.

    That sums it up perfectly!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice play with facilitate word ~ bold last lines.

    ReplyDelete
  9. And generally doesn't achieve a great deal. Good piece.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Poli-speak is something we must endure if we are to have governments and their departments that can effect the least amount of harm whilst inflicting us with the minimum amount of good. Can you imagine a government that does the most amount of harm doing the maximum amount of bad? Or is that what you think we have?

    ReplyDelete

You've come this far - thank you.
Take your time, look around,
There is lots to see.