Malfunction

I’m a machine,

[whirring]

A robot in disguise,

An impostor walking through the world.

Seeing, learning, recording,

But never truly being.

[Click. Click. Click.]

What do I do? Am I broken?

Emotions cannot be falsified;

Romance cannot be kindled with an unlit match.

Broken? Am I broken?

[tick tick buzz]

I collect friends like data points,

But there’s no manual on falling in love.

[beeping]

What must I be?

Broken? Am I broken?

[gears crunching]

What is passion? I feel no spark.

What ‘attraction’?

What?

[smell of smoke]

I am broken.

[alarm]