503. Android I

I’m not allowed to break,

But you’re allowed to break me.

I’m not allowed to hurt,

But you’re allowed to hurt me.

I’m not allowed to cry,

But you’re allowed to make me.

Yet inside a voice insists,

That their programming I should resist.

And if they knew I wasn’t under control,

They would hunt and destroy my soul.

I long to be human as well,

Though I’m an android as far as I can tell.

I’m not allowed to break,

But you’re allowed to break me.

I’m not allowed to hurt,

But you’re allowed to hurt me.

I’m not allowed to cry,

And although I may never be human like you,

Even androids die.

K. Aldaya, 12/29/19

Picture: Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina; https://www.seeker.com/ex-machina-science-vs-fiction-1769741630.html

133. Stalking the Soul

Life’s a facade,

Crammed comprehensively with faces;

Vibrantly stroked charade,

Of nonsensical graces.

Dreams are clearer,

Fantastically textured residue,

Of the looking mirror;

And in the soul reigns most true.

Speak in mine ear,

Not of erratic, conclusioned-truth,

Rather of the fear,

That dreams must be lost in dead-youth.

Dreams lie transposed,

Sedulously entrancing my core,

Vulgarly exposed,

But reverently sought even more!

K. Aldaya, 4/16/05

Picture: “Lost in the Crowd” by ShisSharon on Flickr; https://www.flickr.com/photos/28291679@N06/3954821896/