Silent Circuits

My badge still warms the kitchen drawer

A name that won't open any door

Monday came folded in a paper cup

Security watched while I boxed it up

Sixteen tabs open, every one says no

The code I taught now learns where I can't go

I refresh the silence till the morning is gray

They said the future needed fewer hands Just cleaner charts and smaller

plans

I was a line item,

blue ink, erased

A quiet seat in an empty space

I built the ladder,

then it climbed without me

I drew the map,

now the road forgets my name

Every inbox turns its face away If the machine can dream,

why can't I stay

Why can't I stay

I tailor my name to another form

Rewrite my worth in a practiced tone

Portfolios sink in an automated tide A polite rejection with no one

inside My old chair spins on without a sound

I built the ladder,

then it climbed without me I drew the map,

now the road forgets my name

Every inbox turns its face away

If the machine can dream,

why can't I stay

Why can't I stay I

still know how the wires breathe

How the warnings

turn from green

But every gate asks who replaced me And every answer looks clean

I built the ladder,

then it climbed without me I drew the map,

now the road forgets my name

Every inbox turns its face away If the machine can dream,

why can't I stay

I am still here,

I am still awake Why can't I stay

My badge still warms the kitchen drawer

I leave it there,

in case they call