being mostly
a hermit,
which has gone
from eccentric
to acceptable
over the last
couple of years,
the false warmth
of social media
filled the need
for contact in
an imaginary
reticulation
blurring reality
with chemically
altered additives
accumulating
provate data to
create the perfect
dissociative state

pavlov’s notification
unleashing endorphins
with each vapid
blue thumb validation
sitting in silence
except for the
magical dings
reminding us
we actually exist

a sea of false
intentions draped
in deceptions
vampires feeding
on still warm corpses
trading insincerities
for any reaction
intangible spiders
spinning webs
from the æther
in the hopes of
catching a fly
a momentary connection
before consumption
darting between the
illusionary distractions
disappointed when
we reach our hands
tentatively out
to find nothing but
bursts of static

willfully living
in a virtual reality
without need of
a headset or control
needing one more like
to have a sense of
tangibility as we
wither on the vine

even now
as i bleed
the toxins from
half collapsed
arteries
detoxifying
my brain
the callused
receptors
demand a flood of
chemicals
unconcerned with
the validity
inherent
just needing
those vapid
reminders
i exist
while barely
existing
at all