Seethe on silicon
like bacterial plaques.
Somehow they liken

to appearances.
They have a seemliness from
which all earth rinses.

The algorithm:
Elegant? Intelligent?
What??—a silicon

coelacanth! Log on:
Forgot your password? Reset
as La0c00n.

Unlikeness yaws thought.
Timor mortis is the thought.
That land Time forgot.

This—no mere mirror.
Nor is an error message
like no tomorrow.

Introduce yourself to The New Criterion for the lowest price ever—and a receive an extra issue as thanks.

Richard Kenney teaches at the University of Washington’s marine laboratories in Friday Harbor.


 



This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 37 Number 6, on page 27
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