Fault

It wasn’t until I started working
in car insurance that I learned
fault was a thing that could be
split into percentages, that guilt

could be ascribed numerically.
It is someone’s job to decide
not only who is responsible
for a car accident, but how much

responsibility is borne by each
involved party. This seems
like an incredible power to me,
and it makes me wish that fault

could be ascribed accurately
and specifically everywhere.
We should have relationship
adjusters, political adjusters.

Of course, sometimes it’s a mercy
to not know: for fault to remain
a mystery to all those who might
bear it. It’s more human that way.