Thinking

The Good Life – Tracy K. Smith – Analysis

richinaword Other words on poetry, Poetry analysis Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment 

The Good Life

When some people talk about money
They speak as if it were a mysterious lover
Who went out to buy milk and never
Came back, and it makes me nostalgic
For the years I lived on coffee and bread,
Hungry all the time, walking to work on payday
Like a woman journeying for water
From a village without a well, then living
One or two nights like everyone else
On roast chicken and red wine.

Tracy K. Smith (1972 -

.. the relationship we have with money … if money is our lover and we pander and waste our lives in this partnership then we lose ourselves … there are more things much more important than money … than the chase and desire that can tarnish our golden search

… but the poet is nostalgic for a different approach … when money was secondary … and those times when money did come through hard work and when roast chicken and wine came it was appreciated so much more … a greater celebration that warms the soul … and that may be what a good life is … a well-earned satisfying life!

… it is like working hard for something by yourself without help from others persevering and accepting the challenge and then when you have eventually completed a task the reward and joy in accomplishment is so great … this is the great negative in having things done for you in using AI the achievement can be very shallow and not the same … I guess it is a question of how much of AI went into a joint accomplishment … but it can diminish the extent of thinking required in achieving your outcome.

My advice is to think very carefully in the response from AI and be prepared for further research if you need to explore the truth behind the AI generated text. AI encourages laziness. In contrast poetry can make you think … and often gives a different perspective on life

… here is another AI poem where this diminishment in the joy of accomplishment is explored … ‘Eventually’ – the AI encroachment | my word in your ear

Tracy K. Smith (born April 16, 1972) is an American poet and educator. She served as the 22nd poet laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019 … more information on Wikipedia

‘Eventually’ – the AI encroachment

richinaword My Poems Tags: , , , , 5 Comments 
Eventually 

I used to have jobs.
I used to think for myself.
I used to create poems - with my actual brain.

Three words into my laptop
and it talks back in iambic pentameter,
with a twisting ending and a metaphor to toast.

My car stops before I do.
My watch tells me when I’m tired.
My fridge has opinions.

Even my vacuum’s ambitious -
one job that bored me silly,
now my house is always spotless.

And looking at myself
I’m becoming a better person:
unbothered.

I used to measure things—
well, I used to be a bit of a statistician
steps, heartbeats, syllables …

Now it is peaceful seconds
absorbed by the hour,
as life stretches through a few yawns.

As regards achievement
metaphorically speaking it’s preloaded.
I just download fulfillment.

Eventually, I’ll do nothing —
well, there’s nothing I’ll have to do.
and I’ll think nothing of it.

And this poem,
well, it will be a poem
I won’t have to write.

 Richard Scutter

This poem was recently Short-Listed in the recent Lambing Flat Writers 2025 Competition at Young NSW.

You do have to check AI responses very carefully to make sure they are correct in what they send. I found it interesting that AI slop was crowned word of the year by Macquarie Dictionary’s committee and people’s choice categories.

From Wikipedia –
AI slop (sometimes shortened to just slop) is digital content made with generative artificial intelligence, specifically when perceived to show a lack of effort, quality or deeper meaning, and an overwhelming volume of production.[1][4][5][6] It is a form of synthetic media usually linked to the monetization in the creator economy of social media and online advertising.[7] Coined in the 2020s, the term has a pejorative connotation similar to spam.[4]