Here is the solitary mechanical man
The pacing man
With legs of brass
Who breathes
By appearing to breathe,
And twitches to smile
At the appropriate times.
He has a desert in the hollow
Of his skull for a mind
And a vacuum chamber for a heart.
His hands are gilded with
Firmest flesh,
And he flaunts the golden wings
Of Daedalus, their maker.
He is heartily amusing
As he effects
The ways of birds in flying
Or the ways of men
As he pretends to cry.
He is prone to sobbing fits
And strange and abrupt invisibility.
Indeed
There is much and little known
About this marvelous man.
This wonder of the age.
This artifice of scientific Man
Epitomized.
Yet who could dare explain
Or justify the cause
Of that bleeding lump of life
Which signifies
His birth?