Click, rumble, roar, whirr, clunk, wheeze, zoom–the sounds of machines all around us. They build our buildings, mow our lawns, transport us up and down, back and forth. They entertain us, calculate for us, wash our clothes, and gobble up our garbage. Why do they remind us of living things? A tractor looks like a huge grasshopper, poised for flight. The power digger is a lumbering dinosaur. Do they have brains, we wonder? Not really, but they often seem to outsmart us with their speed and might, leaving us helpless when they break down. The poems of twelve contemporary poets, combine ot give an intriguing look at machines and our awe-inspiring, humorous, puzzling, and sometimes frustrating encounters with them.
