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Cogs

by

People are frustrating: gloriously unquantifiable
so even the most perfectly designed system
can be broken by user error
and sometimes we’re broken ourselves
or don’t fit into the precisely delineated shapes
needed to run a machine effectively.
We are imperfect gears
with our crooked teeth and irregular sizes
ill-fitting faces and unbalanced flanks
made of every kind of unsuitable material
revolving at whatever speed we want
sometimes stopping entirely.
But we mesh better than anyone expected
or could have intended
our cogs somehow interlocking
engaging each other to spin faster
to create power and momentum
revolving around a common axis.
There is friction as we rub along together
backlash and grinding as we change direction
sparks fly – and from electricity comes power
the discord of an orchestra tuning up
giving way to a harmonic drive forwards
the noise of progress generating ever-brightening light.
We are all the sun and we are all the planets
in fluctuating orbit about each other
a galactic neighbourhood of rotating forces
individually we move in moments
communally we move history:
we are greater than the sum of our parts.

Competition winners

Tinkerer

by Andrew Greatorex

We’re born wide eyed
Curious, surprised
Poke around in life
As we tinker and pry
Of those, just a few
Will always unscrew
The toys in the room
Forever consumed
Roll down the years
It’ll soon be clear
More than a career
We were born engineers.

Winner: Written by an engineer

So They Do

by Ruairi McNally

They like beers
and tiers on buildings,
blocked together,
iron on brick on iron.
Like jenga at night
on pub tables.
Glasses cleared
never sloping,
always straight.
It’s their career
to be precise.
Never wrong,
always right.
They are engineers,
without fear.
They like beers.

Winner: Written by a community member