My Robot Man
I thought it suited me
very well
when the contemporary planet of [love]
said out with the “flesh”!
& “blood”! & self-mending “bone”!
They sold me
a robot man
in handsome gunmetal grey
& from July to late October
I came home to [dinner] made.
When I was knee-deep
in “plum wine” & “self-pity”,
he put on [Frank Sinatra]
& [held] me like he “knew”.
Good Lord, he spun me [fast]
when the music called for “fast”
& he twirled me [slow]
when I called for “slow”.
I lived in easy [happiness] until
the morning I couldn't—
couldn't meet his “eyes”.
When I put him back inside his box,
he didn't “protest”,
only [smiled] & wished me [well].
What good is this “heart” of mine?
My robot man,
hard-wired to [see]
& [remember] & [serve]—
he [knew] more of “love” than I.