Aaron Poochigian

The Difference

Robot:
Are the supplied exhaust valves uniform? 

Human:
Our next-edged laser—tech that I believe in—
honed each until it reached the strictest norm
of sameness. 5-D quantum scans for even
the most minute uniqueness turned up null.
We know equivalence and guarantee
these fungibles will rate identical
until precision finds still finer ways to see. 

Robot:
Are the supplied click profiles uniform? 

Human:
Just get a load of why I don’t know that:
I’m right there running churn, and then this swarm
of drunk execs invades QA to chat
and poke, and I, stuck with the chuckle squad, am
stuck tittering till 5, then kids, dingdong,
prank-rang my late work, and the neighbor’s goddamn
parrot won’t stop talking all night long.

Robot:
Are the supplied potatoes uniform? 

Human:
You’re right to ask that, friend. It’s fascinating,
the thousand tinges Russets turn—one warm
mahogany guitar, one copper plating,
a third one clay arroyo, cookie dough
and suede in bonfire light, and sassy buds
like pompoms gussy up their sheen. . . but, Oh,
your question: yeah, those beauts come down to spuds.

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Aaron Poochigian earned a PhD in Classics from the University of Minnesota and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University. His latest poetry collection, American Divine, the winner of the Richard Wilbur Award, came out in 2021. He has published numerous translations with Penguin Classics and W.W. Norton. His work has appeared in such publications as Best American Poetry, The Paris Review and POETRY.