Render No Surrender

Messenger wrote:I would neeeeeever post a new poem.....

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And I would neeever review a new poem, but here we both are!

Hey Mess! The title caught my eye and I ended up reading and rereading this poem enough times that I figured I might as well leave my thoughts.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.
Unless you need a quick pic: to translate a manuscript,
then just use it - it's aight.

The use of "quick pic" and "aight" in the context of "findeth" and "thy" is HILARIOUS. I'd love to see more of that juxtaposition in the second stanza!

Here's what I think this stanza is saying: "Whatever you do, create, or think, do it with your own mind and your own hands. The only acceptable use for AI is google translate." It reminds me of our own policy here on YWS where if a work isn't published in English it's okay to use google translate to read it.

I really like the phrase "do it with thy might." In a world where it's become SO common to fall back on LLMs to do all the thinking for you, I like how this tone hearkens to the noble, heroic past. It's inspiring! Be different, be a hero - use your own freakin head.

Render unto Caeser what e're Caeser's,
don't render unto others what art their own.

The "render unto Caesar" line comes from the Bible where they're trying to trick Jesus with a no-win question - does this coin with Caesar's face on it belong to Caesar, or God? They expected Jesus to say it belonged to God and thus speak against taxes, which could get Him in big trouble. Instead, Jesus says to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God.

These two lines lean into a simple principle that can be logically deduced from that establishing rule: don't give others what doesn't belong to them. The word "art" stands out to me here. I'm not sure if "e're" would have grammatically worked the same in the second line, but either way, the verb shift is immediately noticeable. I wonder if it's perhaps a play on AI "art" or the theft of visual art by image generating models. It certainly makes you wonder what Jesus would have to say about AI if we could ask Him!

Ultimately, these two lines have a clear anti-AI message to me. Caesar represents a human creator. The "others" are those who may try to use AI to inadvertently steal human creators' work to create something for themselves.

Unless you lack sufficient will, to grow your talents and your skill,
then just use it - watch the money flow

I think these lines make more sense if you remove that "to" before "grow." Also, perhaps the "it" in "just use it" should be "them" instead, since it's referring to two things, "talents" and "skill," right?

Those things aside, I'm interpreting these lines to mean: "unless you're too lazy to do otherwise, develop skills, work hard, and it'll pay off."

With that in mind, that first phrase ("Unless you lack sufficient will") is kinda throwing me off. It's essentially making a concession for lazy people, no? Unfortunately it seems like those who don't have "sufficient will" fall back on AI, and sadly people can become monetarily successful by relying on it. Rather than wrapping up the payoff with "watch the money flow," perhaps there's something else that can be promised here besides money? Satisfaction, fulfillment, joy, or a more generic "success"?

I really enjoyed this, Mess! Thanks for fighting for what's right!
Wolfi <3