Bart Wilcox
I Give Up!
2025, Oil on canvas, 24″ x 36″

I like to keep the hate
small and local.
The fear, too.
If I hate and fear on
too large a scale, I fear—
I mentioned fear—
I won’t be able to deliver.
Who am I to lead?
And then there came AI.
It was not too good
with the literal, but
the unconscious, it
plugged right in. And
I knew at once I
could terrorize with
the best of them, and
rule, yeah, why not?
From right here.
All one needs is the
proper prompts—
and those, I have
been saving those
up for years,
perfect stones.