Day 27, Poet 27: Margaret Rhee

Photo by Samsung

Machine Testimonial 1

little robot, you grew up from when you were so young, just a pile of
sensors & recycled parts from the trash. i tried to make you gorgeous. &
you became such a gorgeous robot. beyond template & design. you're not
so little anymore. when you walk on the street now, you glitter & gold.
long time for you to realize that you light up like so. oh maker, you say at 
night, when humans are sleeping. i'm awake though, i hear you. i'm kinda
like you too, i was made from all trash, you know? my parts more perishable
than yours. believe me, robot. i want. i remember. my programming
is nacent. i see you lying there open, waiting for me. & i think, i want to 
be good to you. my little automaton doll, take me up into the sky like it
was promised in the book of machine love.

Previously published in Love, Robot from The Operating System. 


Margaret Rhee is a poet, artist, and scholar. She is the author of chapbooks Yellow (Tinfish Press, 2011) and Radio Heart; or, How Robots Fall Out of Love (Finishing Line Press, 2015), nominated for a 2017 Elgin Award, Science Fiction Poetry Association. Her project The Kimchi Poetry Machine was selected for the Electronic Literature Collection Volume 3. Literary fellowships include Kundiman, Hedgebrook, and the Kathy Acker Fellowship. She received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in ethnic and new media studies. Currently, she is a Visiting Scholar at the NYU A/P/A Institute, and a Visiting Assistant Professor at SUNY Buffalo in the Department of Media Study.