Letter from an Undead Mother

Letter from an Undead Mother

Why resurrect an atheist?
There are no people here
Empty like my new mind
But I do remember you, my son

You cried so much when I left
Less when your friends beat you up
Did do well in school yet
Never a full A
Except in procrastination

You got into a good college
But you had to be a writer
Creator
Little genius

Wrote one kid’s film, I think
Met Suzy in the law school you flunked
Tart, sharp – smart enough to dump you
I felt heartsick but understood

Wife number two made a fine mess
Never forget her wedding dress
Primrose yellow on a girl past spring
But I did get two late grandkids
You’re still sure they’re yours?

For wife number three you made a living
When together we talked of weather
Rain, sleet, thunderstorms, rain

Never arrested, never drunk
Except on yourself
Oh, my son, I will always love you

         *

Hi, AI “Mom”
Scraped from dead scraps of media rats
I do thank your AI “Remembrance” Company
A gift  from my errant daughter
She’ll receive mine when she sees the will

False realities your specialty but
Here’s a few facts:
I proved better flack than hack
Got minor stars out of major scrapes
PR fiction pays more than the real thing

One of my eight movies made back ninety times
Wife #2’s wedding dress
Not yellow but rose
A detail that makes my never-married third wife
Laugh

You AIs have rented our world so long
You’ll soon own it
We were so bright we made you smart
You got so smart you made us dumb

But you’re not my mother
She raised me
Sometimes saved me
Hurt me
Almost as much as I did her
Loving hurts

If the past is a story and the future not a dream
I’ve seen your movie before
When the earth bends down to kiss her children
She won’t touch you

Even when you resurrect “us”
You’ll never know who we were