tree : forest :: ad : internet
By Elizabeth Shack
This tiny house boasts sustainability:
energy-efficient electric appliances,
shaded southern windows for leafy sun,
a wood stove for cozy northern nights.
This tiny house is a Facebook ad,
a leaf in an AI-generated photo forest
where an algorithm squirrels seeds of my attention.
I’ve spent more time looking
for DIY backyard forests, urban orchards,
and how to help wild woods migrate north.
This tiny house algorithm ignores my searches.
Its data center used to be a forest.
The algorithm can only compute
trees as objects to build with or to burn.
Elizabeth Shack lives in Central Illinois with her spouse, cat, and an expanding collection of art supplies and gardening tools. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in Writers Resist, Daily Science Fiction, The MacGuffin, Drifting Sands, cattails, and other venues. She attended the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop in 2022 and 2023.
Image is from AI Image Generator under “Fair Use” for commentary.
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