China

Raking

China:

young people rake leaves

in the late afternoon

with calm precision

year round

a monsoon climate,

using peasant brooms

slow and ineffective,

with many brooms

the leaves eventually

meet in communal piles

the evening is still.

Resting.

In Western yards

and temperate climates

old men

use plastic rakes,

electric, whine and

angry gas leaf blowers,

they lack tranquility

an absence of solace,

high tech procedures

for simple manual tasks,

the piles sucked up with giant

vacuum trucks

an aesthetic amputation.

Where is the progress?