If my car was broken, the last person I’d look to for repairs would be a poet. For a technical problem on an old Nissan, a mechanic trumps a poet every day. Mind you, some poets are quite handy with bicycle repairs. They get a lot of practice with bikes … that’s all most of them can afford … even in countries dripping with wealth and BMWs. Such is their perceived value to society.
As you may have noticed, planets are different to cars and bikes. In fact, it would be naïve to claim that a planet bore any similarity to even a very complicated car … or even a huge, sophisticated cruise ship. It doesn’t. Because, amazing as it may be, each of these extraordinary machines is just a bunch of bits and pieces joined together and behaving in a predictable manner. And when a bit breaks down, a mechanic burrows in, knowing what to look for, and repairs or replaces it.