Train through Colma

Train Through Colma

But will anyone teach
the new intelligence to miss
the apricot trees

that bloomed each spring
along these tracks?
Or the way afternoons

blazed with creosote
& ponderosa?
Spring evenings flare

with orange pixels
in the bay-scented valley—
where in the algorithm

will they account for
the rippling ponies
that roamed outside Fremont?

When the robots have souls,
will they feel longing?
When they feel longing,

will they write poems?

Reprinted with the permission of the author. All rights reserved. Muni Art 2020, San Francisco Beautiful, sfbeautiful.org. Poster design by Vanessa Fajardo.