To bot, or not to bot?


A ‘not’ from me. But let’s say I’m thirteen
and homework-worn again. Who’s Hume? What’s Watt?
The textbooks on my desk are rather lean,
unlike the cheaty chatty bloated bot
that's lurking on the laptop I have here
from 2023. So I click ‘Try’
like everybody else at school. It’s clear
the bot could do the work, so why would I?

But bot-chat blurs. I think of what I’ll miss –
my bike-ride to the local library
to park up, padlock, then the bookworm bliss
of searching shelves and finding things. Yippee!

To bot, or not to bot? I still resist!
(It’s shrunk my copywriting client list.)

Felicity Teague

If you have any thoughts about this poem,  Felicity Teague would be pleased to hear them