Sonnet 8

For Mark

Across the screen the stick man takes a stroll
‘til toppled by a tortoise in his path
due to forces out of his control
set by his maker’s algorithm’s math.

The stick man’s maker is a patient man
compressing lots of logic in a line
inspiring a team to execute a plan
barking at the few who moan and whine.

Yet when he’s put in charge he’s not content;
eventually it makes him feel tied down.
He much prefers the burning grassy scent
and growing vegetables on rural ground.

His deepest ties in fifty years of life
Were to his loving mother and his wife.