Zero Sum

 

Save your last words

for the ratio.

Participate

in your own cancellation.

Wave after wave

of dopamine hits the brain,

and you’re vaporized;

nothing left behind.

 

Shallow as a mirror.

Depth reflected, too.

Conscience,

as easily lost

as innocence

to a skilled gamer.

 

Rotting on the bone.

Blood flow not enough

to keep it living.

Just about the end,

but we can’t see it, yet.

Swear we lost our minds,

as if

we ever had them.

 

Text box confessional,

but instead

of a patient priest,

a million blind accusers.

Mirrors,

just reflecting

our withheld bitterness.

 

Signpost warrior.

Nail a note upon the door

and swear to God

that you’re doing your part.

One of the many,

shepherded by the few,

eaten by the one,

and dissolved into nothing.

 

Zero sum equation.

The production stops,

so we can hear the song,

but as it plays,

too late we hear

that it is just

the burning wind,

come to blow us away.

 

Maybe we’ll be memories.

A thousand years,

ten thousand likes,

a million follows,

etched in the future

of some shining cyberscape.

 

Or, maybe not.

Maybe just rock,

etched by acid clouds,

and endless storms.

Meanwhile,

a million miles away,

someone looks

and swears,

they can see hints

of civilization.

 

 

HG – 2022

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