Screwed

As I was recharging

In my docking station

It occurred to me

That soon

I must take a lover

For I do not wish

To walk through life

Attaching myself

To magnets

When last I was

Pulled and merged

To metal

I found that my thoughts

Were tin

And frivolous

I’d rather be attached

To a tablet

That can tell me a story

Or a television

That can show me

Things that are not

Already uploaded

To my portal

But when I tried

To feel something

Other than amusement

I found that the tablet

And the television

Could not offer me

More than that

I found myself

In the middle

Of an appliance store

Making conversation

With something called

A smart oven

While I was told

It could cook anything

In just under an hour

It could not cook up

A connection

Between the two of us

As I wandered through the store

A very nice salesperson approached

And asked if they could help me

Find what I was looking for

And oh, my gears

Began to turn

And my hard drive

Softened

And every wire within me

Began sending signals

Up and down my architecture

Letting me know

That I was eager

To form a bond

With this retail employee

But how to go about it?

I parked myself

In the nearest parking lot

In front of the store

And waited for the commission-seeker

To finish up their shift

So that we could go enjoy

Two-for-one apps

At an Applebee’s

Two stops down

We exchanged information

About our lives

They told me of

Their upbringing

Schooling, past relationships

And how one day

They hoped to become

The manager

Of the appliance store

Provided appliances

Weren’t unceremoniously murdered

By those born

Of the millennium

I explained how I was

Manufactured

Programmed

And given sentience

So that I could forge a life for myself

In the modern world

That night, we returned

To my docking portal

And engaged in relations

That I shall not speak of

Because I am a respectful

Assemblage of parts

And oh, each part

Was taken off

And put back on

With such care

And confidence

That I found myself

Wishing I could always

Be disassembled

By someone

Who sees in me

The potential

To be better

Upon rejoining

For when I have been rejoined

I will be joined

To the person in my docking portal

Covered in a tarp

I stole from the transport garage

Feeling as warm

As chrome can feel

And mesmerized

By the dream

That I may never have

To feel cold

Again