I operate in opposites,
My programming commands.
Sometimes my heart beats double,
Or my brain won't stay my hand.

The nerves that fire quickly
Are the first to fight or flight,
But the thought that travels after
Doesn't tell the wrong from right.

I'll process too much data
and then overclock my head,
I'll reset my priorities
and start new tasks instead.

At times my coolant curdles,
I begin to overheat,
My firewall won't catch all of
the bugs I must delete.

I'll stop to charge my fuel cells
When I should be working hard,
My defense systems active
When I could let down my guard.

On hardly healthy hardware
I run through lines of code,
Meanwhile, my circuitry
Begins to overload.

Replace my missing pieces all
With dreary, dried up dross,
Installed in wrong directions,
Rivets loose and wires crossed,

I'm nothing but a defect,
A malfunctioning man.
My prime directive now is
Just to function while I can.