And Kafka smirked

 

Kafka smirked
Watching this Lufthansa mess
This mashugana
This horror
This bureaucratic nightmare
And farce
From afar

Kafka smirked
Shaking his head wearily
As if he’d seen it all before
Over and over again
Countless times
The same uncaring bosses
The unfeeling functionaries
The twisting of truth
The invention of policies
The denial of responsibility
False claims
Shoddy arguments
Sophistry
And stone-walling

Kafka smirked
What’s new? he would say
Where’s the surprise? he would smile
What did you expect? he would chuckle

Compassion?
Empathy?
An apology?
Fair compensation?
Justice?
Some kind of miracle?
Divine intervention?

Get real! he would say
Suck it in
Wise up
Get in line with all the other suckers
Bow your head
Shuffle along
Accept your fate

Kafka smirked
Knowingly
C’est la vie
That’s life
??? ?????
es ist Leben

You’ve got to suffer
If you want to sing the blues

Notes:

Franz Kafka (1883–1924), was a Czech novelist,
who wrote in German. His work is characterized
by its portrayal of an enigmatic and nightmarish
reality where the individual is perceived
as lonely, perplexed, and threatened.
Notable works: The Metamorphosis (1917),
The Trial (1925), and The Castle (1926).

mashugana = Yiddish term meaning nonsense,
silliness, craziness, garbage (as in useless)

The last two lines are from a song
by David Bromberg “Suffer to sing the blues”