my main argument is as follows:

the purpose of a short cut is that it is a shorter distance to the destination

and it takes up less time to get there

in this sense a short cut is objectively good

if anyone tells you otherwise

or that there are no short cuts in life

and that you have to always do things properly

don’t believe them

it’s just that this person has never found one for themselves

there are empty wine bottles in my short cut

a cigarette packet, palm fronds, speckled lizards

and people who ask me my name

at 1.15pm while i’m walking to lunch

when i’m finally at lunch

i imagine building a universal short cut

that everyone in the world could use once

when they need to get somewhere really fast

like a get out of jail free card

in this world i am imagining

i live in a bark hut at the mouth of the short cut

to let people in

and make sure they don’t use it more than once

in sum there is nothing careless or lazy about a short cut

i don’t understand why people are fighting this war against short cuts

when they should be fighting a war against time

which seems to be taking over everything these days

often ruining very simple things like lunch