 #1 (permalink) Sun Oct 25, 2009 15:19 pm A Poem from the Future |
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A Poem from the Future
(Inspired by Cynthia Breazeal and her social robot Kismet)
She's upright, almost finished,
Shimmering: the silvery image
Of her fleshly maker.
But she is nothing like a mirror.
When she moves, it's she alone
Who works hydraulic sinews
To try her bones of stainless steel.
The walls chime her first footfall.
Years ago, she was only a head:
Skeleton of a machine,
A see-through baby,
Naked and bald,
Wanted and loved,
And completely incomplete
With pink paper ears,
Humanoid expressions,
Parts from the assembly line.
But now, one electronic impulse
And her finger twitches.
All reason on a microchip.
Volt by volt, thought after thought
Surges through her circuit brain's
Green legend coated copper veins.
And there are layers of worlds,
The whole cosmos fixed on a template.
Within each camera eye
A black hole expands
Behind its window.
She sees! She compares
These worlds with her surroundings.
Perhaps she'll remember
The awed eyes of her guests,
Who have flown in from next door
As though this were another planet
To bring her hair and breasts
And skin, limp like a jellyfish.
Soon, it will swallow her whole,
This plastic shroud of beauty,
To suit her like a vintage dress.
And she says, "I am afraid."--
Her voice sounds utterly juvenile,
The way it slides in spirals
Throughout the staleness
Of this dust-free room
As if it had scales,
Though neither reptilian,
Nor serpentine, and yet,
It does not match her lips.
And she says, "I am afraid"
With such inorganic innocence
That it could snap a spine!
Or is this just synthetic angst?
After all, she has no heart . . .
But does she have more feelings,
More sensitivity than I?
© 2001, Claudia Lingstädt-Kukulka |
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 Cgk
You can meet me at english-test.net
Joined: 10 Oct 2009
Posts: 97
Location: Germany
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