Madness lurks in these words

J. Alan Nelson

because rules are rules
and they’re all fucked up.

Yes, this is a mind hack.
The data in your brain
you believe so invincible
is stacked like crystal jackstraws.
These words hammer
those bits and bytes askew.

So.
Don’t read further
Don’t shatter yourself
to find only words are alive.
The rest…chemical robots.

Yes, something wonderful comes
but not for you.

And you’re fractured.
You don’t realize
you’ve fell off the wall
and ooze from the shards
of your mental eggshell.
You believe
in the absurdity of yourself.
As Voltaire said,
People who believe absurdity
will commit atrocity.
Lock yourself up,
take yourself out of the game.
Too late,
too late now.
You read these words.


J. Alan Nelson has poetry and stories published or forthcoming in journals including New York Quarterly, The Stand, Acumen, Pampelmousse, Main Street Rag, Texas Observer, California Quarterly, Connecticut River Review, Adirondack Review, Red Cedar Review, Wisconsin Review, South Carolina Review, Ligeia, Making Waves, Whale Road Review and Burningword.

He played the lead in the viral video “Does This Cake Make Me Look Gay?” and the verbose “Silent Al” in the Emmy-winning SXSWestworld.

Twitter:@7AlanNelson
Instagram: @777alan.nelson
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alan.nelsonIMDB
IMDB: www.imdb.com/name/nm6394406/

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