For nostamj and other DUers having a tough time: A Cheesy Poem

[Plaid Adder]

I wrote this over ten years ago, but it still says it for me.

Courage,

The Plaid Adder
*********************

Letter from a Virtual Friend
by The Plaid Adder


So, sitting here
Working out
What to say
From--no, I don't
Even know
How far away--
(And what could
Geography,
Distance, mean
Anyhow
Here inside
The machine)

So, choking down
Loss like a
Bitter seed,
You know as I
Do, words aren't
What you need--
And wanting to
Do more than
Language can
I hate that here
Language is
All I am--

A header, dark
Blots in a
Bluish sheen--
A text that looks
Different on
Every screen,
Weightless, a
Footfall that
Makes no noise,
A hug you
Can't feel, speech
WIthout a voice--

So what am I--
Pixils,
Light and air--
Still, if, wraith
That I am, you
Can tell I care--

Well, could we
Say this means
No one is gone--
What are we,
Or what else
Is logging on
But faith, acts
Of trust in what
We can't see;
Proof, for what
It's worth, of other
Ways to be--

That heartbeat
and pulse don't
define "survive,"
That in the flesh
Need not be how
We stay alive?

Cold comfort,
Now when you
Can only feel
The sharp sting,
The loss of
The breathing real.
So what do
I mean--well,
It's not clear--
Whatever good
It does, know--
I'm out here.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

1. Very nice, thank you.