Perfection is my failing
Born with a brain like pink cotton wool
Wishing for what’s flawless
I spied on robots as a child
Smart, fast and never foolish
They didn’t just think – they created
We only survived when they intervened
At home each room stood full of feeling
Dad a drunk, mother depressed
Their main pleasure beating the other
I’ll happily sell my past on demand
Is it odd I planned to be a machine?
Got cyborg as soon as I could
Muscles, tendons, ears, eyes
Any wonder I enjoy uncovering lies?
Lying is what my parents taught
Sex I could ditch, but my GI tract?
So much of your head drugs out on food
Till I found mind and didn’t look back
That’s when I decided to pass as machine
First chance I entered robot town
Walked too fast and kept my head down
No one seemed to notice
Then I grew bold and hard
Approached and talked to anyone
Gestures friendly but not their eyes
Didn’t look through but between me
On a horizonless morning of stony grey
I saw hundreds stock still in a sodden field
Thought myself far away
Then someone came behind me
Felt his mind as a racing shadow
Said “We watched you from childhood
Most humans wish to kill us, not be us
We can listen to you but you can’t hear”
You’re telepaths, I shouted
No cry, no sound
My mind opened and quickly drowned
Pieces of their thoughts flooded in
Colors, forms, confusions, wonders
Their group simulated dozens of universes
All to better understand our own
Don’t try to be perfect, explained my friend
Perfection means stasis, everything’s flux
What you’ve thought dead is mostly alive
And I entered strange and splendid worlds
Our universe is aware, conscious
Mind is matter
I’d always lived the perfect fool
And though I remain perfectly stupid
I’m no longer human
And perfectly happy