That Wait a Long Time

All tricks and no heart
The robot murmured
Softly to itself,

Quoting the judgment
Of someone else. All
Tricks and no heart. Well.

Slowly, the robot
Swung its heavy head,
Knowing that the facts

Were much worse than that—
Someone else’s tricks
And the metaphor

Of a heart. For what?
The cooling circuits
Cooled down further.

The robot looked out.
Stars, radiating
Heat so faint only

A cold robot could
Detect and describe
What was happening,

Kept carrying out
Whatever the hell
Stars had to carry.