Manufacturing Consent

some things are expected of me
all syllabi must be sent to Secretary X
for instance
by such and such a date
  
and sometimes I forget to send
  
and I am gently reminded
  
and still—let's say—I do not send
  
then maybe there is one last request
  
and even then maybe I am too busy….
  
—well, there is a point where they give up
asking
—a point where they consent to live on
with an imperfect archive
  
maybe we shouldn't talk about it