Day 2965 on Station Zed

by Chelsea Fanning ​

I sulk down to the bar and take my place
beside Robo Johnny. He’s on the fritz . . . again.
Seems like every day we replace another robot with a human.
So much for the modern age as advertised.

I still keep one of the original paper posters
pinned to my bedroom wall. (A nice touch going print
instead of digital, banking on that old hag, Nostalgia.)

No Pollution! No Overpopulation!
Clean filtered air!
And a limited colonial spread—
5 terra huts per 10 acres!

I’d envisioned myself a regular Judy Jetson,
instead I’m another Woody Boyd
slinging cosmic martinis and Martian mules.
Just because you give something a clever new name,
doesn’t mean it’s a brand-new thing.

When I walk out the door at half past four
trudging up the corridor, I feel the heat
of artificial gravity and pumped in vitamin D,
and I wonder: Is this the greatest height
humanity can reach? Dysfunctional automatronics
and themed hotel bars?

Then again, I think, as I reach my door
and find a pre-packaged orgasm waiting in my mailbox,
the planetary punch really ain’t so bad.

Chelsea Fanning is a writer, poet, editor, feminist, witch from New Jersey. She has an MFA from Drew University and is the poetry editor at Fatal Flaw Magazine. Her poetry has been nominated for the Best of the Net award and has appeared in From Whispers to Roars, OyeDrum, Mom Egg Review, Rogue Agent, Coffin Bell, Phantom Drift Limited, Ethel Zine, Big City Lit, and They Call Us, among other journals.