Innovation is exciting — and also scary. When it comes to the advancement of driverless vehicles, many share hesitation at embracing the change. That was the inspiration of this Typewriter Rodeo poem.
DRIVERLESS
Four driverless cars pass our quiet house
in under five minutes.
We go out onto the street,
statues stunned by ghostbuster sensors
and jilted speed,
the way they stop short of the stop sign
wait three whole seconds
before proceeding
wherever they’re programmed to go.
What haunts me most
is the eerie glow from the wide screen
where the driver would be.
Instead, we see through to the other side.
That glow, like my sisters on the couch
that Christmas morning,
the light of their first phones
on their pre-teen cheeks–
“Look! Me as a dalmation.”
“So cool,” we all said.
Another car zips by.
“Go slow,” I urge
whoever is driving.
Typewriter Rodeo airs each Friday on Texas Standard. Send us your ideas for a poem on Facebook, Twitter, or send us an email.
If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on texasstandard.org and KUT.org. Thanks for donating today.
