Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
What can I say?
I’ve been in love with a girl since I met her,
But it will always be, one-sided.

That’s just life I suppose,
I can’t, nor would I change her.
For I fell in love with the her, that isn’t capable of falling for me.
The stars were not to blame
Nor the ocean between us
Or even that dreadful place
We used to call home

It was only you and me
Always a little too wrong
And maybe just a little
Too late
We were told freedom would make us artists.
We were told freedom would set us free.
But freedom made us consumers—
scrolling, streaming, drowning in plenty.

Peak content.
Peak noise.
Attention—the last currency.
And we are broke.

Then came the machine.
Infinite. Bespoke. Frictionless.
The tribe dissolved.
The story fractured.
Each of us—
a society of one.

Do not mistake this for culture.
Culture bleeds.
Culture resists.
Culture divides.
This is mimicry.
This is slop.
Outliers cribbed, stripped,
and rebranded before the ink dries.

This is the singularity.
Not awakening.
Collapse.
Not tribe.
Not ritual.
The machine as tribe.
Self-satisfaction—tribe enough.

But listen—
creativity still breathes.
Not to be seen.
Not to trend.
But to testify.
To mark the ruins.
To scratch in the stone:

A human was here.

Do you remember?
I woke up late today… 16 alarms couldn't disrupt my peace.
I now sit out, eat my breakfast and enjoy my tea. September's Breath, a gentle comfort as it rustles the tree tops.

My phone remains in its pocket, as I watch the pine tree's branches sway.
As the lowest layer of clouds in the sky rush by, and I allow my mind to float upon the sounds of chipmunk, squirrels, and birds.

I slide down in my chair, embracing the symphony, and watch the sky.
The first memory that pops in my head was how many years ago, when I broke my foot as a child. I had been playing with the dogs, and an ill timed Ottoman caught my foot with its edge.
Broke my baby toe at the knuckle, and where it connects to my foot. Never processed so much pain before, at least until whatever pain took its place.

I don't remember much from that time, but I remember watching the 1980's Transformers movie until the DVD couldn't be read anymore, as I slept on the couch.
I remember fake friends using the fact I couldn't go outside because of the snow, to l stay in and play computer games, specifically with me.

It's hard to describe faded memories, but what a truly miserable time that was…
I enjoy people watching,
Seeing them go about their lives,
lives that are less mundane than mine.
No perversions or thoughts of sinful taint,
Just curiosity, to see a sight different than my own.

Maybe that curiosity is sinful,
A ******* in its own right.
A desire for something different than my own.

— The End —