Poetry Robot, by James J. Stevenson

They programmed me to watch
through three-hundred-and-sixty-degree eyes
for twenty-four/seven surveillance of the courtyard.

I had no stomach, but felt hunger
no sexual organs, but wanted orgasm
no limbic system, but needed to be loved.

They made my interior hollow as a joke
with only the basic components necessary
for my compositions to be recorded

of adult envy as children chased pigeons
of a final cigarette being discarded
only to be picked up by another’s relapse

my algorithms keeping the beat
of iambs to tell stories
for those too busy living to write.

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My poems, stories, and comics have been published in a bunch of anthologies and journals, but the quickest way to see what I’m up to is @writelightning on most social media. I frequently post haiku+photography (often of my Star Wars action figures…) with over 400 in my archive. All my social media links are at writewithlightning.com