A poem by Walidah Imarisha, written in response to the original Blade Runner movie.
Androids Dream of Electronic Freedom
For Pris
By Walidah Imarisha
I sensed
the cyber hounds
closing in
before I heard them
even as I
waded through rivers
of liquid metal
to hide
my digital scent
#6 describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about your mother
accelerated
decrepitude
incepted to die
expiration date
carved into
my programming
so I would extinguish
here
3 years and 9 months
of
human hands
hacking inside
rooting out
the core of
me
#8 you're watching a stage play a banquet is in progress the guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters
I reached
my trigger point
and
then
I pulled
it
#2 he shows you his butterfly collection plus the killing jar
robotic
degrees
of freedom
I am
no longer
lonely
I think
sebastian
therefore I am
I look
to the nanoheavens
acid rain
kisses away
my biomimetic flesh
as I hear the
lasertube
whine
#5 the tortoise lays on its back its belly baking in the hot sun beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can’t not without your help
we were
humanity’s
voigt kampf
empathy test
the results
were
inconclusive
#3 there’s a wasp crawling on your arm
but these iterations
of autonomic responses
have taught me the answer
yes
do we dream
do we weep
do we love
do we kill
do we run
do we die
do we dream
the answer is
yes
I
am the
proven data set
#9 the test is over how many answers do you think were given by machines
and I die
autonomous
knowing
my circuits
are
finally
my own