the sky is gray
the world outside
is hollow
just another facade
painted
along the roadside
to give the
impression
that there is
meaning
to any of this
antagonizing sorrow.

in my mind
you and i
play
in the water
you and i
me and you
mean something
more
than passing
fancy.

the sky is filled
with barely
functioning
confusion
the birds fly
in a loop
of constant
static reduction
the rains fall
but never land
on the land
that isn’t stable
in this
simulation.

in my mind
you and i
are real
everything else
is illusion
you and i
me and you
are abhorrent
two and threes
in a sea
of disintegrating
code.

the hardware is smoking
the software
shutting down
done
in the rapture
of falling
failing
fleeing
faking the results
to suit the test group
of placebo
pacifism
and the sky
remains gray above
the ground
dry below.

you and i.
me and you.

just another tale
with a tragic ending
we try and rewrite
as the pages
turn
the cover smolders
as we give in
to regret
rather than put forth
the effort
required.

we are
pieces of error code
submerged
in the hard drive
failures
of those
that came before us
doomed
to replay
the same level
until the server
crashes.