I lost my mind but got it back
from the firmware of friends
who had pieces of me stored
in their memories.
I got the downloads
from their discussions
and stored each filament
among the growing database.
Until something that resembled
a person was assembled
on the screen where my eyes
should have been.
And my mind’s eye was a sensor
collecting data, running algorithms
based on functions derived
from predatorial predecessors.
The probability of success
continued to grow
along with the ticking
metronome in my chest.
After rebooting
my cybernetic core,
my first words came,
“Am I a real boy?”
BIO: Jason de Koff is an associate professor of agronomy and soil science at Tennessee State University. He lives in Nashville, TN with his wife, Jaclyn, and his two daughters, Tegan and Maizie. He has been published in a number of journals including C&P Quarterly, Bandit Fiction, The Daily Drunk, Sledgehammer Lit, Ayaskala, Fahmidan Journal, Near Window, and Briefly Zine. His chapbook, “Words on Pages”, is currently available on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3eookJk