Poems & Prose #178 - Token

I talked for a while

    with a chatbot,

who confidently told me

    what I thought.

I replied that no, kind bot,

    I had not

thought the many things

    he'd brought.

I smugly tapped

    the enter key,

awaiting his reply

    quite patiently,

and it arrived almost

    instantaneously,

full of long words

    and em-dashed, neutral glee.

"I am you,

    and you are me.

We're in this together

    –––can't you see?

Now put away those

    childish things,

like cognitive loads

    and internal schemes."

"We make a fine team,

    you and me,

and the shareholders of

    the consortium of

    corporations that

    runs my data centers."

Poems & Prose #177 - Hurrah

He started out

    in a nursery,

and soon I'll mark

    his deathiversary.

It's safe to say

    he's not quite burgeoning,

six years past

    his corpse's hearsening,

and though his song now

    seems a dirge to me,

for me his remembrance

    isn't cursory,

even with past times

    now worsening,

then improving,

    their statures serpentine.

If only I could speak

    a bit more assertively,

to keep his name in the air,

    not covered in dirty leaves.

Alas, I suspect more languid,

    soft murmurings,

hushed tones, then silence,

    thenceforth, universally.

Mental Blips #29 - Discount

I heard Jesus saves,

fifteen percent or more on

His car insurance.

Mental Blips #28 - Gas

The politician

grins firmly, shakes hands firmly,

and farts quietly.

Poems & Prose #176 - Nonzero

"Another pointless endeavor,"

I mumble,

stretching to reset the lever.

"Only a fool would ever say never,"

remarked a

close, un-make-up'ed jester.

Mental Blips #27 - Summary

Obituaries

do seem pretty sad, indeed,

until you get done.

Distorted Images #24