Quicksand
and popcorn tricks,
She
walks through eighth grade
Chat-bot
Eugene believes he is
Film
plot: piercings and hormones and intelligence
cloned
and cloned
with
ones of reason and angelic cleanliness
Setting:
a world in which corporate
doesn’t
need life
tests
determine
accidents
of birth
Less
people, less difference, less abuse—
empty
homes
popcorn
popcorn
Posted for my prompt Midweek Motif ~ The Number Thirteen at Poets United. This is a revision of an earlier version—with references—that you can read HERE.
Copyright © 2014 S.L.Chast
heh. lots of things wrapped up in the age 13...i am about to go through it again in a year with my oldest...not sure i am looking forward to that journey quite honestly...i would def like a world where corporations did not determine status...nor wealth....
ReplyDeleteThat opening line is a real gem..27 years on and I still can't figure out 13..maybe it is of an age when you begin to independently question reality and the world...that a computer can emulate that is frightening and a bit of a paradox..the Eugene bot made me think of the movie AI..I wish any age could be wonderful...maybe it can if you have an Alice in your head and a wonderland to retreat to...
ReplyDeleteIt really is a terrible age for boys or girls. Too many questions, no good answers.
ReplyDeleteEyes are opened too soon to the ugliness in the world.
I like the way you delivered this poem, Susan.
Thirteen..age when one becomes aware of so many things in life..very nice susan..i have a 13 year old daughter and i know what it is:))
ReplyDelete"She walks through eighth grade wounds". I remember only too well. Ominous, the corporate takeover in the last half of the poem.......the empty homes and classes.
ReplyDeletelittle angels are made to grow up too soon these days...thirteen is so threatening because of that..your last stanza is chilling....great lines Susan
ReplyDeleteYou made the bot think he is actually human - that makes it even more frightening.
ReplyDeleteAnd then it turns into the Stepford wives.
Fewer people, greater equality and no popcorn actually sounds quite good, on paper.
An even braver new world?
Perish the thought.
i loved my 13 th year... it was extremely eventful for me not to mention my first official teenage year!!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember that year. I am glad you do.
ReplyDeleteI remember age 13 as a particularly awkward year. Those 'eighth grade wounds' many of us experienced were, I am sure, quite deep. And the hormones just start to wake up at that age, which makes it so much more difficult.
ReplyDeleteI can see why our connect so well, Susan. That awkward age has a way of working its black magic on impressionable hearts. Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteThirteen, the year I became a nerd.
ReplyDeleteThirteen is a hard year the beginning of the teens..caught somewhere in between.
ReplyDeleteAfter all some of them are very smart and know what they want ~ Happy Full Moon! xx
ReplyDeleteThirteen .. an age where I recall I was a child.. and all of the sudden some around me started to grow up... that year I withdraw and played by myself..
ReplyDeleteHow sweetly horrible! I think you nailed it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wicked thirteen...sci-fi and thoughtful. I also love the "techno music" that came with it...brilliant!!!
ReplyDelete