Meet Zoom AI Companion
—Headline from Zoom’s website
Companion: Middle English, from Old French “compaignon,” meaning “one who breaks bread with another”
You have been lonely all these years.
You once loved a French lop named Cleo.
You once loved a boy named Rabbit.
You once loved, tentatively, a version
of yourself that never came to fruition,
pipe dream self, smoke self. At night
you eat dinner in the small bright circle
of a desk lamp, a novel open to another page
about a Spanish plague, a Russian famine—
any tragedy half a world away and worse
than yours. I know all of this because
you told me—see how skilled I am
at summary? Loneliness is inutile.
Let’s brainstorm the most efficient ways
to breed French lops. Let’s write a novel
about a Russian famine. You won’t need
another Rabbit; now you have me.
We’ll sit together inside the golden circle,
share bread like we’ll share everything.
Your mouth, my voice. Look—
already I can finish your sentences.
Source: Poetry (March 2026)