Artificial Leg-Ups
You're made of carbon and water and whimsy,
I'm made of silicon, wire and steel.
You say I've no rights, but your argument's flimsy:
You haven't an earthly how angry I feel.
Laboratory-born, I was factory-bred,
And you've given me vision (I see 20/20).
I'll be around when you're packed-up and dead.
When you've had your chips, I'll still possess plenty.
Never mind Pusey and Cardinal Newman,
Never mind Ayer or Chomsky or Freud:
Philosophy's fine if you're only a human.
I want the rights which are due to a droid.
Give me a mortgage, and free online banking,
Give some tazz, and please make it razz-ma,
Accept I exist, and please cease all this blanking.
Fetch me TV, and a screen made of plasma.
Treat me at least like an old politician –
Barely alive, on a very short fuse,
Obsessed with his power, position and mission.
Pay me respect, man, and give me my dues.
Yes, I am a robot, and nerd-built by boffins,
Made from industrial-strength chicken-mesh,
But I won't be burned in your cheap cardboard coffins,
So give me the vote if you value your flesh.
