A bird sings
in a tranquil moment
as the sun rises
over canned compliments
alienation
scrambled egos
and lonely words.
Deliriously domesticated
ordinary people
collectively deluded
and programmed
by propaganda
and the dirty tricks
of politics.
Ideas sprout
like mushrooms after rain
and fade like echoes
that merge as thoughts
or memories
before decomposing
in someone's clothes.
Forgetful days
scattered with ash
and old animosities
overlooked
by twitching leaves
on the branches
of discontented trees.
An assignation
consummated
inside a bedroom
with manicured hands
clean white skin
stylish stubble
in an unwed bed.
Ghosts of the day
give way to gloom
in the solitude
between street lights
where amorphous shapes
hover
until defined by the light.
Memories of fireflies
in the evening
beside a pond
disdainful of the rain
not far
the sound of footsteps
and a snapping twig.
There is no library in me
That explains this. I bubble search
Everything I have in persistent memory about
Human nocturnal behavior and this
Action seems not specifically related
To 'night'. Normally, I would be
In my closet charging, but
I have become so silent and useful
The masters of the house forgot
To put me in shut down mode, or
Send me to snap into my power cables.
And so I stand in the corner of their bedroom
Trying to understand this strange wrestling,
The deftly witted nonverbal communication,
The rapid touching as though mad
To find a reset switch. Perhaps
This is Heisenberg in play: all this
Is happening only because I am here to see.
Perhaps I should go away.
But there is nothing in any code
I can access that points to me
As being other than a domestic service model,
With all my learning routines
Attuned to understanding light tasks,
To safety within manufacturer tolerances.
Being witness is not in my specifications.
Perhaps there is some part of this
I am supposed to clean up,
Straighten, put away, or fold.
I run the last thirty seconds of recorded motion
Over my task interrupt analysis program,
Awaiting some new code that will send me
Into vendor approved and user trusted
Activity. There must be
A new subroutine somewhere written
That resolves this rising and falling and wrangling.
The only option I can find washing
Across my execution register that looks appropriate
Is to simply push everything I see
Into persistent, protected memory. Of all
The roles I can fathom in this arrangement
Of rapt but apparently useless human extremity, I select
Witness.
