One day, a dark day, I was working in my shed
With a last turn of the wrench, I attached the head
A tall black stove top hat, I put to cap it off
Turned the crank, charged it up, it started with a cough

I heard the gears, the servos whined loud while it rose
The head rotated round, the eyes upon me froze
With its mechanical mouth it uttered a roar
A halting speech that began “Twenty years and four score”

It then inquired where John Wilkes Booth could be found,
Demanded that revenge be had in this next round
Metallic claws clasped shut, his laser cannons armed,
Search algorithms looked for actors to be harmed

Breaking free, he rose up and lifted his arms high
“I will be avenged” he bellowed loud, “Booth must die”
From his copper beard electric sparks did fall
A metallic monster, way over six feet tall

Tearing through the wall, he then went out to the street
Strong though concrete is, pavement cracked beneath his feet
Crazed, the robot made his way toward our dear town square
Like a postal worker, then brought his guns to bear

He fired rockets right into the hardware store
Upon our little burg, my robot declared war
The church caught fire from the deadly laser rays
And after half an hour downtown was ablaze

Then from the Second Precinct, fifty cops arrived
They attacked my robot, but only four survived
Eventually the Army had to be deployed
So that my rampaging robot could be destroyed

The battle was epic, I won’t describe it here
Suffice to say the devestation was severe
After the attack, there was some great destruction
In a heap of rubble lies my great construction

Once robotic Lincoln seemed like a good design

Perhaps a robot Harding would be more benign