TECHNO POEMS

from Semiconductors—Where Is The Conductor?

Semiconductors
     conduct and insulate,
Insinuate the new,
     incinerate the old,
Speed on speed.
Batons beat faster
     than they ever dared,
Beat slow steppers
     into submission.
Victory measured in megahertz,
     is the coin of this realm.

Computers, who are fruitful
     but do not multiply,
Speed us beyond thought.
Neither do they fret,
     nor weary us with unwanted chatter.
With this new ignition key
We speed forth,
     like Hermes on the highway,
Glibly solving mysteries
     and rewriting social history.

With our social graces in glasses,
     we glibly toast the new.
Like laser band firebrands
     we create speed
And regale the world with sparks.
With our new principle,
     we feel invincible.
Not on our shoulder,
Our chips connect to the sockets of time,
     their prongs poke the spokes
Of the wheel of rebirth --
We can shut this mother down.
...
Our faculties have a flare
     for prolonging our lives,
And increasing our power.
People await new milestones
     like miracles,
To free the manacles
     from the longings of their choice.
Will we enter cryogenic boxes
To be let out
     and lit up,
As lighted beings
     once more,

Or will we be propelled somewhere new,
     as someone else,
Mechanically resuscitated,
     invigorated
Reincarnated in new flesh and steel,
     genetically perfected,

Desire bodies reinjected,
Ready to seek new debaucheries
     or subtleties,
To give our longings
     new faces?