Space and Time - March 10 2024

 

Space and Time

March 10 2024

It was built with curved walls

and graceful passages,

so the building seemed to circle

in on itself.

As the celebrity architect said

an open space

to foster creativity.

So there were no right angles

sharp corners

ruled lines,

no corner offices

executive suites.

But there were generous skylights

and lots of floor-to-ceiling glass,

clever intersections

so you couldn’t help

but meet and mix.

Even if it took forever

to get somewhere.

Even if, more often than not

you lost your way.

Above all

nothing to make you feel confined 

or stop noticing.

No same old, same old

for this famous prodigy,

nothing that didn’t draw

attention to itself.

When all I wanted

was to close the door

on all the distractions,

pull down the shades

to keep my focus,

and feel secure

behind four impervious walls

enclosing me.

Meanwhile, doors stuck

the roof leaked.

Closets were scarce,

it was hell to clean,

and there was no privacy

into which to retreat.

The visionary

who designed the place,

   —  who conceives not of structures

but the spaces they contain,

or so he says

as if no one ever thought of this before  —

won every prize.

But no Einstein

he failed to consider time.

Of which, in the end, we spent little there,

before decamping to the office tower

down by the mall,

a monolithic slab

with geometric corridors

and doors that close.