*Robot Prompt*
A baby’s first breath is a symbol of life.
Everyone waits to exhale until it does,
Until it cries.
We celebrate our first moments
When we’re gasping for breath,
And just learning how to live.
.
Unlike a newborn, I don’t cry.
Been told not to by so many,
I don’t even remember how anymore.
And sometimes I wonder
If I ever did in the first place.
.
Maybe that’s the difference
Between me and everyone else.
They all learned to cry,
Learned to live
The moment they were born.
But my life is controlled by
The machine I was born with.
Every movement commanded.
Compressions forcing me to breath,
A pacemaker pumping my heart,
Code telling me what to think.
.
People have emotions,
I have none.
I’m just a mechanism hiding behind a mask.
Hoping no one will notice the difference
As I envy children with scraped knees
And tears on their cheeks.
.
-The Splintered Pencil
The Splintered Pencil 