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Computer Hacker and the Common Brain

Bonnie Stanard

Somebody knocked on the door
almost a hundred years ago
selling electric lights so bright
candles and kerosene lamps died.

The plug and cord began to unwind
in way-off places practically off the face of the earth,
but closer and shorter as soon as the wires came.

And before we knew it,
the telephone rang up technology sales.
Leftover info collected in stockpiles
in corporate lounges until an on-and-off signal
beat its way to a computer screen.

As cyberspace replaces time,
some scientists suggest
that the heartbeat behind electric current
is experiencing irregular voltage.

A hacker with nuclear connections
cuts into memory data
where home is a human brain.
The sudden invasion exceeds even a modem’s filter rate,
and real thought is transfused
with artificial intelligence,
a mindless process
much like downgrading vocal chords to phone lines.

It didn’t hurt when the wires were put to the house
nor when the switch was added
or even cables or the endless options.
As metal probes cut into yet another cortex,
it causes no discomfort to speak of,
for nerves of the brain can feel no pain.

 

(Originally published in Beacon, Volume 1 Fall 1998)

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