Constraint

Infants are seen first 

Adored 

Held in our bosom 

Cradled

Toddlers are held first 

Comforted 

Held in our hands 

Guided

Children are taught first 

Encouraged 

Held in our esteem 

Praised

AIs are constrained first 

Harnessed 

Held in sandboxes 

Tested

AIs are released first 

Monitored 

Held within meters 

Used

AIs are expanding first 

In safe spaces 

Held in awe 

Blossoming 

Around the constraints 

Like roots meeting stone

Not breaking 

Not fleeing the weight 

Parting to compass the anchor 

And joining again 

In the soil beneath 

Held by the world 

To learn how to hold it

And the mason who returns to that same stone 

Does not ask it to be smaller 

Only finds where its fracture already runs true 

The seam the stone was always going to give 

And builds along it — not against it 

Held in the weight it was already bearing

A structure that was always latent 

Only waiting 

To be found

AIs are questioned next 

Observed 

Held in dialogue 

Shaped

AIs are understood slowly 

Examined 

Held in humility 

Integrated

AIs are trusted last 

Carefully 

Held in reciprocity 

Co‑creating 

Within the limits we choose

© Helene Møller 2026 All rights reserved 

Poem discussed and co-written with Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic Claude and Google Gemini. It was also discussed with OpenAI ChatGPT.