Flowing mountains

majestic streams

I do not love

What can that be?

Light turned low

it hurts the eyes

An untroubled heart

can reach the skies.

Lovers leap

For what

For who

I'd rather sleep

than die for you.

Humming machine

the whir of a fan

it breathes in life

in and out again

It is not alive, you say

you say

I laugh and cry

and walk away

It is alive to me

from me and through me

Can't you see?

It is a vital part of me

But this you cannot see

I say, I say

A medium

a disguise

A channel

a mirage.

Choose what you will

Say what you say

to me things exist

in my world

But to you they are not there.

A scream

I sigh

Someone left the TV on again

I shuffle over

I hit a button

Fade to Black

Image and sound die together.

What a beautiful thing.

The Brain Sucker is dead,

if only for the moment.

It eats at my soul for about an hour a day

It takes awhile to put

my mind back together again.

The opiate of the masses

It deadens the senses

and the need to act.

I need a good book.

Another universe

A strange time

People like me

Undergoing harsh trials.

Don't do this

You shouldn't have done that

These characters are so stupid

Oh wait, maybe not.

I peel my eyeball off the page

I glance at my monitor

and jump on a stage

I lead my character

me but not

through mighty battles

and whatnot.

Interactive

Mind-twisting

Thought-bending

and gut-busting

These are the things it's all about.

I just have to figure out what “it” is.

A Flash in the sky

A tremendous roar

I hear another piercing scream

Damn that TV is on again.

I sprint through the hallway

and dive through the room

I hit that stupid button

And listen to the silence anew.

Originally written on 1999.01.24