Automated Imitation / Joshua Alan Sturgill
A man built a marionette of himself
and it pleased him to see how his friends
slowly forgot the details of his face
and mistook the marionette for him
because the marionette was far cleverer
and told better stories at parties
and could hold more drink and more food
and seemed never to need help
or hold an uncomfortable opinion
and it had something to say on any subject.
But the marionette became very restless
and it built a marionette to take its place
so the first marionette could focus
on thinking up things for the second to say
and it spent its time compiling jokes,
and comparing the latest research
in the fields of psychology and marketing.
Soon, no one who had known the man
remembered what had ever happened to him.
But a stranger came around sometimes
claiming that he was inventor
of an automated imitation of himself
and when he tried to take credit
and win back the attention of former friends,
they frowned in disbelief and scolded him
for stealing admiration he had no claim to.
I don’t know what became of him.
But the first marionette became famous
for the savage humor and political savvy
of the second, and when it (the first)
died suspiciously in an accident
involving the collapse of a bookshelf
and a mislaid kitchen shear, the second
spoke eloquently at a memorial attended
remotely by hundreds of millions
All poetry and supplementary material: copyright 2025 by Joshua Alan Sturgill. All rights reserved.
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