A mammoth online market, to succeed,
Must get its goods delivered cheap and fast.
So safety doesn't count. What counts is speed.
The experts' dumb advice we do not heed.
Their pointless regulations merely waste
The precious time that's needed to succeed.
The drivers that we contract have no need
To drive defensively, avoiding haste.
It's fine, they're safe enough. What counts is speed.
The human workers in the warehouse plead
Their workload should be tolerably paced.
Ignore them. That won't help us to succeed.
If people in the way get hit and bleed
Or die, then the insurance pays the cost.
So safety doesn't count. What counts is speed.
Don't lecture us, denouncing corporate greed.
The age of business ethics is long past.
Our online market's destined to succeed,
So safety doesn't count. What counts is speed.
This is part of the collection Verses for the Information Age by Ernest Davis