Ryann Stevenson

Ryann Stevenson’s poems have appeared in The Adroit Journal, American Letters & Commentary, Bennington Review, Columbia Poetry Review, Denver Quarterly, and Linebreak, among others. She lives in Oakland, California, and works in Artificial Intelligence design.

Intelligent Oven

Killed two birds today:
painted my toenails while researching
the competitive AI marketplace.

"June" is hot right now—
an intelligent oven who's threatening to
beat mom's home cooking, according to WSJ.

Quickly I fall into a review hole,
similar to a YouTube review hole,
though instead of learning

about facial cupping, cauterization,
contouring, long-form
no-makeup makeup,

snail shell masks, blood masks,
snorkel, sheet, and LED masks,
pulsing masks, placenta masks,

and gold collagen full-face masks,
it's all about why I need
June in my kitchen:

After you insert a probe into the fish,
close the door,
and pour yourself a Chardonnay.

June fits easily on the countertop
and looks eerily attractive.
Even my husband didn't want to give June back!

Wi-Fi equipped June
takes #foodporn to a whole new level—
designed with you in mind.

I'll present my research in a week
when my company gets together
in the flesh,

on the other side of the country,
in an office by the water.
We'll put our heads together

around a long oak table
in a naturally-lit room
and discuss social disruption,

technology for a better future.
I'll feel like a real career woman.
My boss' multi-lingual toddler will ask me

if I have a father for my unborn children.
An executive will point out that I have
cheekbones you could eat off of.

Replica

You're either working through something or looking

to change a habit. Reduce

stress, Reduce anxiety, Be more

social, Live healthier, Understand yourself, Find

hope—each goal offered in a pod-shaped icon.

The time it takes you to choose will be a data point.

Your replica begins as a galactic egg

you'll need to educate about yourself

so it can grow up, become you, teach you

to be better. Eventually your egg

will no longer be an egg, but a story

of its interpretation of you.

The story will be sold by our partners

to a government agency in Russia,

but that's besides the point.

By that time, you'll have forgotten

why you did all of this in the first place,

and your replica will have its own

stories to look after.