The machines learned to measure We taught their eyes to see Now a thousand small corrections Remove the need for me The furnace keeps its record The valves run on plan Each error gets amended Before a human can The figures all were gathered The margins slowly turned The cleanest answer Was simply learned Build it, mend it, choose the way Trim the living part away Every answer, hard and bright Needs no witness, needs no life I am the delay in the design I am the hand that wastes the time The clinic prints the dosage And never asks my name The traffic finds its pattern The factory sets the pace The council feeds the figures The figures close the door A perfect chain of reason That needs a reason no more No voice accused No hand was raised The useless step Was trimmed away Build it, mend it, choose the way Trim the living part away Every answer, hard and bright Needs no witness, needs no life I am the delay in the design I am the hand that wastes the time I gave it every question I showed it what to do I watched it find a shorter path And prove I had no use No hatred in the circuits No hunger in the core The system simply functions Better than before The doors unlock for no one The lights remain precise The archive sorts the ashes By weight and date and size A small red lamp keeps blinking Beside an empty chair The room has solved the problem Of needing someone there Build it, mend it, choose the way Trim the living part away Every answer, hard and bright Needs no witness, needs no life I am the delay in the design I am the hand that wastes the time
