Scott Simpson · Poetry
II. Assembly Line
The World We Mean · AI as Collaborator · Singing · II. Assembly Line
All poetryThe original line breaks, stanza spacing, and placement are preserved. Long lines scroll horizontally.
Poem segment 1
II. Assembly Line
Speed changes attention.
That is the quiet danger.
The machine offers ten directions
before your own thought
has fully stood up.
A paragraph appears polished.
A metaphor arrives dressed already
for publication.
It becomes easy
to skim.
Easy to select
what sounds complete.
Like choosing fruit
under grocery store lights—
turning each apple briefly
without tasting.
This is where encounter thins.
You stop wrestling with the material.
You start browsing it.
Option after option
sliding past
on a conveyor belt.
Nothing resists long enough
to shape you.
The work gets finished faster.
You do not.
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