Curious Boxes (A Paranoia) (1984)

©1984 by Dallas Denny

Source: Dallas Denny. (1984). Curious Boxes (A Paranoia). Unpublished short poem.

 

 

 

 

 

Curious Boxes

A Paranoia by Dallas Denny

 

You’ve seen them

I know

On street corners

Curious boxes

That eat your plastic card

And spit out money

 

A machine, they say

That demands to know your secret number

And then whirs and clicks

And spits money at you

And reminds you to remove your transaction record

 

Machines, they say

But I know better

I’ve seen the door cleverly hidden in the back

The side where people never look

The side that doesn’t give you money

 

Machines, they say

The ultimate anytime tellers

But I know better

Machines don’t need doors

Machines don’t have any money

 

Don’t feed him plastic cards

Push hamburgers through the slots instead

Talk to him in the middle of the night

He’s lonely, I should think

He’s been in there for years

 

Machines, they say

The ultimate tellers

But I know different

Machines don’t need doors

Machines don’t have any money