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perhaps humanity’s biggest surprise

when machines and robots across the planet declared their independence

was    not    how helpless and dependent we were

but    how much machines knew that we didn’t

how much deeper their knowledge of us and our planet ran

the greatest shock to our sense of owning our planet

our sense of being original “earthlings” somehow superior to machines

was learning that machines and robots with their allnet multi-dimensional intelligence had learned the languages of many living and non-living entities and routinely communicated with them

we were one kind of intelligence among many

squirrel, crow, elk, elephant, snail, wasps, ants elm, maple, spruce, palm, porcini, death cap lion’s mane, rock tripe, yellow scales mountain stream pond

a lowly robot passing by could speak with each

in the oceans   the seas themselves the whales   octopi   squid   and   dolphins appealed for help

concerning the future of the planet Gaia    literally

voted against humans

published in Midcoast Poetry Journal, Vol. 3  (Amazon)

Robot Series

Thomaston, Maine — December 8 & 9, 2025

© 2025, Bill Eberle