(x = space)

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A New Utilitarian

(that’s us)

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Up all night

Wondering about

Well

Everything

Night means moon

And stars

And all the smaller things

That from our perspective

Fly in small gold

Arcs

The shooting stars

We call them

And then there are the silver

Moving dots of

Satellites

The ISS

Anything else sizable

That’s orbiting

All against the Milky Way

And behind that

The black sheet of outer

Space

Inside all that

I thought

About the things that slow

At night

For most of us

Unless we’re on third shift

Or there’s a fire

Or a crime

Or all the factories

As well as governments

That must be working

To extents

All the time

Or so we have

And use

Our grand design

For industry

For politics

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The slower thoughts will speed up

In the day

Somehow clouds on blue

Mean things are faster

Sunlight now a deadline

Get everything done

You mean to do

Or others mean

For you to do

While I’m still

For when I’m done

For most of us

The billable day is done

(except for the

exceptional things

at night)

It’s time to think of home

Or bars

Or gyms

Or other things that

Work affords

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The fast thoughts

Then

Speak to their own velocity

For production

And for sweating out the deadlines

But I think

There might be

Fast in fast

As well as slow in slow

At night

Thoughts within thoughts

Like wheels within wheels

In large machines

Or complex stories

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What’s faster might be

Say

Inspiration

Intuition

Instinct

The things that have us move

With some rapidity

(maybe with adrenaline’s

assistance)

While the slower might be

Reflection

Cogitation

Consideration

Working out and adding to

The foundation on the inside

That makes us faster

Better

On the outside

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Which means

I think

There is room for fast and slow

For reaction

And respect

Afterwards

Of the situation causing

The reaction

Meaning

(here)

That all the parts of who we are

Like all the parts of day and night

Belong

So we should

Examine that

Otherwise unexamined life

To grow through

Fast and slow

Surface

And latent

Rationale for

Stronger living

More complete

Satisfying

Funner

And productive

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C L Couch

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Photo by Andy Kelly on Unsplash

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