Perfect Companion

By David Radavich

My robot knows all
the answers of my life.
How to avoid aging,
how to savor a sunset,
heal a broken bone,
avoid a negative
or irrelevant thought,
how to forget the taunts
of friends and enemies,
the best ways of war,
how to bury
an unfortunate child,
the news of tomorrow
waiting to be told.

Even now I see it
tilt against the light
with calm
condescension
and a glazed eye.

David Radavich's recent poetry collections are America Bound: An Epic for Our Time, Middle-East Mezze, and The Countries We Live In.  His plays have been performed across the U.S., including six Off-Off-Broadway, and in Europe. He has served as president of the Thomas Wolfe Society, Charlotte Writers' Club, and North Carolina Poetry Society. His new book is America Abroad: An Epic of Discovery (2019).