(Poem #262 on new numbering scheme)
"Philosophical zombie" is a concept you may know. I'd like to now propose a twist to how those stories go. Most typically these zombies are like strange automata. They act like people, react too - but it is just data. So nothing's felt and nothing's hoped; there is no inner spark. These zombies might seem like humans, but their sad minds are dark. Now here's the change I'd like to make: let's add a soul inside, but not connected to the flesh - it will only reside. Like those sad paralytics who stare helpless and afraid, this second mind lacks any link, must wait for any aid. So here's the first, with agency, the second with the why, together they must walk the earth, as we do, you and I.
– six quatrains in ballad meter – an essay on phenomenology in six stanzas.