the ultimate VR -
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yeah ...
they hijacked my mind, man -
hard-wired my neural synapses
said I'd be famous ...
(wealthy, certainly)
With MY financial issues
what choice, really?
Family no longer cares -
they gave up on me ages ago
(who can blame?)
so here I am … pfffffft!!
the sci-geeks wanted to see what I'd see -
feel what I'd feel
the ultimate Virtual Reality
POV on an altogether new level …
dark, digital details of dissolution -
the worst and most visceral of mélange
served up cold in binary code
and delivered, fresh, to the parietal lobe
(of anyone willing to shell out the pesos)
so, I took the bonus ...
told them I'd only do it if I was
paid up-front
(I wouldn’t need the coin after, that’s for sure) …
hey, nobody ELSE would go for it
no one was that whacked
so I had 'em - on a platter …
I took a cushy vacay
went on a top-shelf bender, (frosting, baby)
then put the rest in a Swisser
and gave my kids the key-code -
figured it might make up for a few
of my gaffes over the years …
should have seen their faces, lol
"HOW much money, D-der?!?"
(my kids always call me D-der, long story)
then I signed the papers and
took the merry meds …
the honchos wheeled me into surfer y
long faces in Gucci scrubs
(though I grinned like a Cheshire)
I knew they expected I'd never come out -
just a stiff with a skull full of borscht
but I surprised 'em
came out fine
my brain tied into a PC
smooth … as … buttah!
and then …
the bucks came flooding, baby!
a deluge of dollars for lineal access -
for subscriptions to ME, ha!
people could see what I saw
feel what I felt
know every last emotion, as I knew it
they couldn't keep up with
the torrent of customers - cha-ching!
I … was the new ultimate entertainment
a cutting-edge, darkly real, reality show -
the one true gamer game, supreme!!
well …
when they'd satisfied themselves
with maximum profit
(graft for the ghoulish goons)
they brought me here
to my favorite place …
(it was my choice, you see
exactly how I wanted to check out)
next to the lake I grew up on -
gorgeous spot on a hill
with my favorite twisted old tree
the tree I used to swing in
(and I'll swing in it again -
blue nylon cord - also my choice)
all those paying voyeur freaks
tied into my gray matter …
they'll put their VR units on and FEEL it -
know what it's like to hear
the snap of cartilage
experience first-hand the
constricting pressure of the noose
choke right along with me
as I gasp for my last breaths
and know those dark, paralyzing fears
as the world fades from my sight
and all goes black …
only they'll go on
they'll take the VR units off
and go about life
put the kids in the car
and go to grandma's
tug on a vape and do the laundry
grab a cheeseburger and bang the Nancy
tell everyone they were there
and contemplate their own end with a
new clarity ... and FEAR …
a fear like they never imagined -
(serves them right, sickos)
but hey, my kids will be rich
laughing all the way to the damn
Bank of Switzerland, ha!!
I'll be cold as carrion -
my worries over
and everyone will know my name ...
EVERYone ...
there's something to be said for that.
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Copyright ©
Gregory Richard Barden
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