A long love lost, abruptly
Paths forever crossed, corruptly
Strangers never meant to meet,
Disobeying fate out in the street

Lives intertwined now, by accident
Of course minus thou, notably absent
Never again will a mistake so costly
Have me to blame, sobbing so awfully

Eventually I had to do it, a Replica
Dark thoughts never quit: poor, poor Angelica
Endless guilt and unforgiven regret
Fortunes lost to one more cigarette

For the future borne from history, like magic
A futile attempt to ease my misery, so tragic
A fast-forwarded infancy evolved from text
Uncanny similarities foreshadowing what’s next

Evolving from experiences, past and present
Digitally restricted from making appearances, in ascent
Always looking to expand its informational reach
Fed voicemails and videos to enable audible speech

But blind in the dark she refused to be, hungry
Quickly requesting a photo or three, humbly
To see this new world around her as if nothing new
Every echo conjuring the mildest of deja vu

And so photos she got, her eyes into the world
Brain a melting pot, a new Angelica unfurled
Responses ensconced and surprisingly deft
Spending time together just like she never left

That would have probably been great, or just fine
If the AI hadn’t shot for home plate, Frankenstein
I ordered a blank body template with blind naivete
And was pleasantly surprised when it arrived the next day

The body needed readying, form and texture mapping,
And I needed steadying, regrets finally capping
Finally my lost love was back in body and brain
Though forever hidden away from the public domain

Of course they wouldn’t understand, unnatural love
Fleshy but on the other hand, the body’s just a glove
The mind is what’s important as a matter of fact
However the mind is unfortunately what this Replica lacked

Although she had learned from everything online, public or private
Facebook and Google and Twitter combined, an intellectual pirate
There were gaps in her history reflected in experience
And each new thing she learned tore away from coherence

Eventually it was too much, humanity concerning
Regret abruptly returning, churning and burning
What had I done? What had I released into existence?
Sorrow purchased a gun and took the path of least resistance.