Two Robots in a Rowboat

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Two Robots in a rowboat
set off from the shore
looking to escape
the factory floor
(the tinnitus
the detritus
technology’s roar).
In the middle of the lake
they each put down an oar
one says to the other
“Where did we come from?
What are we here for?
What were we before?”
A duck floats by
contemplating nonchalance
a crow lands on the prow of the boat
in the distance the factory throbs.
The second robot replies, a non sequitur:
“I’m not sleeping well, I have some redundant software . It activates randomly at night, I wake up trying to place an invisible object on an invisible shelf.”
“Have you talked to tech?”
“Yep, they say redundant software is not covered by the health plan.”
“That is so typical,” the first Robot replies.
A frog ribbits.
“Best be getting back, it’s getting damp and that rust in my knee is acting up”
“Rust, eh, gets to us all eventually” says the second Robot, “probably not covered by the health plan”
They both chortle that robot chortle
then pick up their oars
and head back to shore.

Taking part in Open Link over at dverse

21 thoughts on “Two Robots in a Rowboat”

  2. sanaarizvi's avatarsanaarizvi

    This is absolutely stellar writing here. I liked the idea of it being a “redundant software,” which activates randomly at night. Alas … it must be painful nevertheless.

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  3. kim881's avatarkim881

    I love the way your poem starts like a joke and ends in dystopia, Jim, but I think we’re almost there. I know what the ‘the tinnitus ‘the detritus / technology’s roar’ is like, and I’d be in that boat with them. I love the way they ask the same questions humans ask themselves, the sleep problem – I have that too.

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  11. Kim of Glover Gardens's avatarKim of Glover Gardens

    I knew from the first two lines I was going to love this and then got deeply jealous of these lines, which I wish I’d written:

    (the tinnitusthe detritustechnology’s roar)

    Your writing is awesome, humorous and scary all at the same time. Keep it up – we need some laughter these days.

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