The God Machine

I really have outdone myself this time! My ‘God Machine’ is finally in place! I’ll never have to fret about a rhyme, Or stop for a red light that changed from green As if it sought to put me in my place A random hiccup clearly quite obscene. I really am quite clever I must say My ‘subtle knife’ (1) allowing me to splice My ‘God Machine’ into time’s tawdry day The true God left completely unaware That He is now controlled by my device And just another victim of malware. It seems there’s quite a lot that ‘God’ screwed up That I intend to change now I’m in charge I think that its bad form to cover-up! So what’s the deal with dying anyway? Let no one die will be my countercharge And life is just a breeze on my freeway! All pain mere nuisance, manna heaven sent And sin gives you enormous facial zits While love and kindness clear up all your rent. Though talents differ, jealousies dissolve As differences bring none real benefits And non-destructive social moves evolve. All birth defects, parental wealth passé Genetic weakness gone with dodo bird No accident of birth gives worth per se Sins of the parent cannot taint the child That God might favor one is just absurd The color of one’s skin no more reviled. But now I find my plans have gone awry My God Machine decided I’m a flaw It seems that I’m outdated samurai Humanity endangering MY plan Just plankton in the future’s yawning maw Machine judged only advocate for man! (2) Brian Johnston November 5, 2014 Poet's Notes: (1) subtle knife - A reference to a magical knife that can open windows in time in one of the 3 books in the Phillip Pullman trilogy 'His Dark Materials' including The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. (2) My poetic version of the lesson of the book and movie 2001 (written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke) where HAL, a computer so smart that it becomes sentient, decides that that only way to really protect a manned mission of a spaceship to the planet Jupiter is to kill all the humans on board the spaceship. The crew's humanity HAL decides is just too big a risk to the mission that HAL is charged (by its human programmers) to protect.