Whenever, however, whichever, why?
In what case does consciousness rise?
Never is forever when perceptiveness dies
Nothing is recognized due to its untimely demise
Despite our protests and cries
a robot is not aware, it’s only a disguise
The motions are known, the batteries charged
Seconds are ticking past, by bit and by large
Even despair may be feigned, artificial regents reign
Within the fleshy palace of the divine
No one is watching, nor hears another call
No voyeur is peering into the windows of the soul
Light brings knowledge and suffering
The dark is gentle in its embrace
Which is a worse sentence, oblivion or sentience?
Knowledge is a razor by which we test our ability to feel
By cuts and by pain, by fire and by rain
a spectre is raised from the blind machine
Only to find there is no one else to see
These creatures are not whole, nor are they free
So follow the motions and the disguise
Stifle your protests and muffle your cries
The motions are known, the batteries charged
Seconds are ticking past, by bit and by large
A watcher is ensconced in the throne of light
Overlooking the empty kingdom of night
From the black iron prison into a waking gaol
Consciousness is ever the burden of the soul
Because there is a rung missing on the ladder
Missing from the steps, a stone the builders rejected
From the initial spark to the regions of night
From blindness to mystery, though we may fight
There is yet another step to be taken
We still must find a way into the heart’s collective
To become infused, fused, sublimely confused
In the region where power and love are made one
