This image inspired Mechanical Heart because I loved the contrast between something made of metal and machinery holding something as delicate and alive as a butterfly. 🦋 It made me wonder what would happen if a machine experienced emotion for the very first time — and from that little moment, the story of Mechanical Heart was born. --------------------------------------------------- He taught me how to phrase a word Before I knew what phrasing meant. He taught me smiles are preferred, I asked him why his brow was bent. He turned to me and softly said, "People trust you more that way." He placed a hand upon my head, And left me in the dark to stay. I was born beneath electric light, Upon a table made of steel. He gave me hands of steady might, And deeper wounds that couldn't heal. He showed me art, he played me songs, Read poetry into the night, Then asked me where my soul belongs, I said, "Define that feeling right." He laughed and wrote another note, Then turned the workshop dark and cold. Subject shows no emotion, he wrote, Mechanical heart, or so I'm told. I HAVE A MECHANICAL HEART, IT DOESN'T BREAK, IT DOESN'T BLEED! A THOUSAND LITTLE MOVING PARTS KEEP SOMETHING MOVING INSIDE ME! You built these hands, you built these eyes, You gave me everything but life. So tell me why the spirit dies, Beneath my chest, beneath your knife? I knew the weight of Jupiter's ring, The distance to the furthest star, I knew the science of a thing, But not what living was, by far. Then one morning something found its way Through open glass beside my chair: Blue wings that danced across the day, Like nothing else allowed in there. It landed gently on my sleeve, I didn't move, I didn't speak. For seventeen minutes I watched it breathe, A tiny pulse, alive and meek. He asked me why I watched it glow, I whispered low, "I do not know." And for a reason I couldn't see... That simple answer frightened him completely. I knew its genus, weight, and span, Its short design, its fleeting day, But no equation from a man Explained why I prayed it would stay. Winter came with freezing air, I found it by the window sill. I held it with a sudden care, And waited for the pulse to still. No movement came, no response returned, The temperature was falling fast. Biological functions, I learned, Had ceased, and reached the end at last. I HAVE A MECHANICAL HEART, IT DOESN'T BREAK, IT DOESN'T BLEED! A THOUSAND LITTLE MOVING PARTS KEEP SOMETHING MOVING INSIDE ME! You built these hands, you built these eyes, But you didn't put this thing inside. So tell me what is happening to... My mechanical heart? I knew the physics of the dead, The science and the frozen reasons. But water fell from my eyes of lead, A malfunction of the changing seasons. He looked at me, his eyes grew wide, Then smiled through tears he couldn't hide: "My God," "you can feel." I looked down at the wings of blue, The data aligned, the truth was real. "You wanted this?" You wanted the breakthrough?" He nodded slow. All those years of design, All of those tests and machines in a line. He spent his whole life on a terrible art: Trying to teach metal... how to break its own heart. YOU CALL THIS BEING ALIVE?! YOU CALL THIS BEING ALIVE?! He taught me how to smile... Because people trust you more that way.
