A SMOKING ROBOT

A metal robot
doesn’t know
he’s on fire
until the clang
of Ladder Company #9
triggers an order.
He has no fear
or reaction of sadness.
He doesn’t feel anything,
waiting for a command
as he crumples into molten ash.
He’s the robotic canary
in the new digital world
who can absorb each word
in Roget’s-Thesaurus,
but will never know
what it feels like
to be broken-hearted.
Robotic man
will have no sense
of the peak experience
of a complete orgasm,
and reading a book
will be a forgotten art.
A memory
of making love
for the first time,
is all that might
be remembered
in the world
of the future
as the humanity
of once having
5 senses is forgotten.
Robot bangs
on his chest
to no avail.