Conjure. Rae Armantrout

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      THE JOB

      Attending to verbal constructs

      makes care long-term,

      not acute,

      which is for the best

      because, though flawed,

      each one is salvageable

      or replaceable

      unlike my flesh.

      Words can be compared

      with moments,

      houses, trees, wires

      wires, trees, houses.

      All stand

      on their marks.

      Still,

      there’s a lot of overlap.

      I move my eyes

      to make time.

      I take their measure

      and create a duplicate.

      SPECULATIVE FICTION

      1

      The idea that producing a string of nonsense syllables

      while pointing toward an object

      may cause that object to change

      is common in children on the verge of language.

      The idea that force exists only

      as an interaction between objects

      while an object

      is a kind of kink

      in a force field.

      The idea that, if one survives X number of years,

      one will live to see how things “turn out”

      or even that things “end well.”

      2

      In the future we will face new problems.

      How will we represent the variety of human types

      once all the large animals are gone?

      As sly as a mother;

      as hungry as an orphan?

      POSE

      So the problem we pose

      is how to create an intelligent

      agent

      and then prevent it

      from destroying this world?

      “Content monitoring

      that required the AI’s

      intentional states

      to be transparent

      might not be feasible

      for all architectures.”

      A long green straw

      stuck in the ground

      with two ears (leaves)

      protruding

      on either side

      at intervals

      What we meant

      by “listening stations”

      and when we began

      to mean this.

      Perhaps its goal would be

      to have “thoughts”

      pass through its “head”

      so it could record them.

      “Preparedness is critical.”

      “Kiss all hope goodbye.”

      “A friend wants you to like it.”

      LIKE

      Small white lights

      twined around white

      dead sticks

      under a glass dome

      flash—

      like getting an idea

      was the idea.

      Like thinking

      I want to fall asleep,

      each night coming so soon

      after the last,

      and СКАЧАТЬ