Impeccable Caution Poem by gershon hepner

Impeccable Caution

Rating: 5.0


The mistake of impeccable caution
is worse than the error of haste
that threatens all change with abortion,
performed with impeccable taste.

The errors of haste are a nuisance
that caution prevents, without doubt,
till entropy levels and loosens
and turns them both inside and out.



David Quammen reviews John McPhee's book on the lithosphere, 'Rocks of Ages, ' in the NYT (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) . He concludes the review by saying: 'Undeniably, John McPhee is a master craftsman who simply doesn't make mistakes - except maybe an elemental one: the mistake of impeccable caution.'

7/7/98

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