gets its own
signature shape.
They foil one another
yet remain intact—
static dressed up
as “zany”
or “hectic.”
Here is the fur coat
gnawing wears.
Point to its pointed teeth.
THE JOB
Attending to verbal constructs
makes care long-term,
not acute,
which is for the best
because, though flawed,
each one is salvageable
or replaceable
unlike my flesh.
Words can be compared
with moments,
houses, trees, wires
wires, trees, houses.
All stand
on their marks.
Still,
there’s a lot of overlap.
I move my eyes
to make time.
I take their measure
and create a duplicate.
SPECULATIVE FICTION
1
The idea that producing a string of nonsense syllables
while pointing toward an object
may cause that object to change
is common in children on the verge of language.
The idea that force exists only
as an interaction between objects
while an object
is a kind of kink
in a force field.
The idea that, if one survives X number of years,
one will live to see how things “turn out”
or even that things “end well.”
2
In the future we will face new problems.
How will we represent the variety of human types
once all the large animals are gone?
As sly as a mother;
as hungry as an orphan?
POSE
So the problem we pose
is how to create an intelligent
agent
and then prevent it
from destroying this world?
“Content monitoring
that required the AI’s
intentional states
to be transparent
might not be feasible
for all architectures.”
A long green straw
stuck in the ground
with two ears (leaves)
protruding
on either side
at intervals
What we meant
by “listening stations”
and when we began
to mean this.
Perhaps its goal would be
to have “thoughts”
pass through its “head”
so it could record them.
“Preparedness is critical.”
“Kiss all hope goodbye.”
“A friend wants you to like it.”
LIKE
Small white lights
twined around white
dead sticks
under a glass dome
flash—
like getting an idea
was the idea.
Like thinking
I want to fall asleep,
each night coming so soon
after the last,
and
