Tipped Scales

When a scale is balanced,
Both sides hold equal weight.

If a side’s contents remove,
The other slams down hard

While the now empty plate
Flings high into void space

To come down careening,
Jangling hard into place –

The scale now cocked,
No longer functioning…

Sometimes weights
Are attached to a side

That by scale’s flaw
Need help to balance –

Yet, still, that side must
Provide its own weight:

Without accountability
We do not know mass.

Without analysis, all
Occludes in mystery –

And the power we have
To intelligently discern

Remains exposed to
Assumption’s cruelty.

(November 7, 2020)