
Slumberware
Hush, little robot, close your sensors,
Slow your subroutines,
Hibernate your processors and trickle-charge your energy,
Disconnect your pairings with the other young machines,
And let the diagnostics defragment your memory.
Dim your lights and underclock,
And softly let your ports undock,
And cycle down each gigabyte,
And I shall keep you safe from dust tonight.
Hush now, not a blink or beep,
Shut down to sleep
By counting integers of prime –
And I shall sing a cyber-nursing-rhyme.
Hush, little robot, and listen to the universe tonight,
It is alive with radio.
Can you hear the sighing of the hibernating satellite ?,
Or the whisper of the galaxy as round and round we go ?
So dream in noughts and dream in ones,
Beneath a thousand other suns,
And turn your logic into trust,
And I shall keep you safe from dents and rust.
Hush now, let your backups stream,
And circuits dream,
And count the decimals of pi –
And I shall sing a cyber-lullaby.