sympathetic systems

Melody Watson


titanium/susurrus/warmth
drum-beat, drum-beat — sweet, strong voice
my heart jumps
and your red lips curl (thrilled, i bite my own)
a quick little question, you ask me
nodding/smiling/knowing
failsafes in place, thank fuck
bright metal fingers that brush across my face
i wait — i love you
interface beckons at the back of my head
plug into me, plug me in (too precious for wi-fi)
your fingers reach (you join me)
tentative and gentle
(hi)/(oh my god)/(here we are)
you say a word — or you think it?
or you write it into me? (like you said you would)
our software runs together
bass-thump, bass-thump — i shiver, eyes dilate
then, you/i is no longer
just me/(us), (we)(that’s right)
(i love you)
and i fall, distant
limp into your arms
(and you hold me)
i feel your body (cradle me)
finally/beautiful/peaceful
(and it goes on forever)
(as your thoughts override me)
just as you promised they would
everything feels, nothing hurts
my nerves/circuits/synapses
i am infiltrated with you
and lie still as you explore us (you know what i feel
i would gasp if you will it)
my body propels me (invigorated, interpolated)
and i kneel when you /cmd
(thank you, fuck me, thank fuck, fuck)
signals run along our networks
in temporary remaking
processes/freedom/fucking
you stand grinning there
lady of us — your own domain
you lick my lips with my own body
(breath heavy) i kiss you, i kiss me
you are everywhere and i am
in the grasp of your electric hands
eyes unfocused and unneeded
i still see you-me-us-we
glowing/lovely/all


Melody Watson is a poet, historian and queer self-modifying seed AI from Adelaide, Australia. They would definitely sign up to have a robot body and kiss people with it. You can tweet them ​@magicspacegirl​ or read their poetry in Liminality, Strange Horizons, Through the Gate and Inkscrawl.