poem for john ruskin


dreadful hammers
leave as rubble
authorship
tied
to
who lived then died

just another history

faith
undermined by geology
proof nor unproof possible
safer to
follow the line of Pascal
may as well
believe anyway

expectation of perfection
geometrical
mathematical
mechanical
via industrialisation
observable in
buildings
fall from idealism of
no longer asking themselves
striving to
outdo
each other
interest only in
inhabitants
in terms of volume
rather than
providing quality of life

heap of car parts
detritus of the workshop

enslavement to
the drive
towards the perfect

and separated

architectural foundation
repetition and monotony
precondition of
economic efficiency
Ruskin said

not the labour that’s divided
but the man

fragments and crumbs

the nature of the gothic
regional material
reflect
uniqueness of the area
to be imperfect
means
belonging to a higher order
no mere animal
or tool
any longer

changefulness f     ut
                                                          u
                                                                         r
                       e                            d    o                               c t

o

                            r a                    l t           h e

        s
            i
                                                                         s