New Machine (Redux) | Teen Ink

New Machine (Redux)

May 2, 2013
By Trace.C.Schuelke PLATINUM, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Trace.C.Schuelke PLATINUM, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
26 articles 0 photos 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Secrets are secrets for a reason, and some do not wish to see them uncovered. Especially when the secrets are particularly unseemly..."


I’m the new machine. The new top-of-the-line product.
Factory-issue with batteries included.
A system of synapses creating a creative outlook,
Programmed for progress and designed for diversity.
A plantation of constraints limited only to the outer reaches of a well-wired cortex.
I’m an out-of-the-box introvert, met with low income and high standards.
I’m a high point for the low-lives. Another low tide on the highrise.
I’m a super-sized small fry.
A whitewashed visionary who’s ahead of my time, but behind on the swing of things.
A keepsake throw-away. A jury-rigged perfectionist.
A completely off-the-charts, on-the-ball immovable object and I can go a kilometer in a microsecond.

I’m a shot-in-the-dark peacekeeper, hotwired for good times.
A nurturing, supportive, caring, altruistic anarchist.
The kind of guy who’ll shake your hand and snap your neck.
A ten-speed easy goer. A mid-range long shot.
I’m a buy-one-get-one-free package, coming in two different shades of emotional trauma.
What’ll you have? Red with jealousy? Green with deceit?
How about Blue with five different tinges of systematic displeasure?
Act now, and get a free bonus color: Yellow with mellow neuroticism.
I’m a rainmakin’ thundercloud with a dead bite and a deep bark.
A soft-bellied slam dunk. A red-necked blue collar.
I take easy tries. I breathe easy sighs. I have easy quirks. I write champion work.

I’m a forward-thinking, backhand slap of reality, electrically charged and bio-degradable.
An internally paternal, rough-edged, smooth-talking, silver tongued devil with a heart of gold.
I’m off drugs, off booze, off weed, off speed, off crack, off jack, and on the move.
‘Cause I get power by the hour and energy though synergy.
You can’t hold me up. You can’t tie me down.
‘Cause I’m restless, and I’m breathless. I’m a dominant species in an inferior phylum.
A semi-automatic, fully-primed neutron time bomb.
A realistic daydreamer. A symbiotic single-cell.
I’m a consistency-driven, grab-bag, hodge-podge of insanity.
So I’m economic, I’m ergonomic, and from time to time I’m agronomic.

Behind the wheel, ahead of the game, knocking the door, hitting the sack, sailing the sea, riding the tide, working the quota.
I’m down to earth, down-range, down-home, and up to speed.
I’m a zero-tolerance, number one, slapshot, deadeye marine of my art.
You’ll never find a keener eye to peruse the purpose of poetry than mine.
I craft with imposing, integral, ingenious, internal, inoperable, inescapable, inerasable, inexplicit, descending, unending, unrelenting rhymes and rhythm.
I roll with the stones and I sift with the wind. I’m taking a spin on the simpler side.
I’m a bullet-proof, reinforced, Kevlar, iron-fist, steel-willed, hard-to-kill, fully-filled hyper-thrill.
I grow with the Earth and I learn with the time.
I write contrite, and vanguard my safeguards.
I’m keeping it real with my commission.
And I’m seizing the day. End transmission.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 5 comments.


on Feb. 20 2014 at 8:57 pm
PhoenixTears GOLD, Stansbury Park, Utah
11 articles 6 photos 59 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life sucks. And then you die." ~Jacob (Twilight)

The deep and descending contrasts in your poem just really made my gears start turning, ya know? I think that you have the utmost potential in being a poet, and I would like to stay updated on your uncomparable writing. Honestly, I envy your way of bending words to create the perfect visual, the perfect, fluent, lines. 

on Dec. 19 2013 at 8:25 am
TravelerenRoute GOLD, Ribera, New Mexico
13 articles 1 photo 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others."
Marianne Williamson

Wow! This is amazing! It really struck a chord! I love the irony of human warmth and the coldness of the machine. The poem makes two seemingly opposite things mingle which is awkwardly brilliant! 

on Jul. 23 2013 at 6:01 pm
Kat_Poetry BRONZE, Neenah, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 60 comments

Favorite Quote:
"But without the dark, we would never see the stars"

This is absolutly fantastic. I admire your poetic ability greatly. I love the alliteratioin and assonance in this poem, it makes it so smooth.

on May. 20 2013 at 11:56 pm
Jade.I.Am ELITE, Fishers, Indiana
214 articles 14 photos 1159 comments

Favorite Quote:
“If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose”
― Charles Bukowski

Oh. My. Gosh!!!! This is awesome! And I must be insane, cuz I thought it made perfect sense o.o .........trace, u r so talented it hurts x-x lol. Ur rhythm in this is perfect and ur word choice is flawless :D

on May. 6 2013 at 6:00 am
AugustSummerFling PLATINUM, Mylapore, Chennai, Other
35 articles 0 photos 265 comments

Favorite Quote:
'For you, a thousand times over.' - Hassan, The Kite Runner

A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit.

Most of your writings about cyborgs and machine like ruts of human lives are intricately written. In this poem, you use technical terms and knowledge (about synapses and other stuff you mentioned) and that adds more beauty to the poem. I could feel the unfeeling coldness of the machine and the set of ironies in between were awesome! Keep writing! And congrats again on the editor's choice!