DB: Intangible Paradise

I think we live in an interesting time. This, I believe, is the dawn of virtual reality and like all pioneering eras, we rush at the perceived gold that awaits us in lawless bliss. Human creative potential has once again established a new frontier to explore and prosper in or meet our demises upon. History seems to repeat itself as our morality, values and social codes seem to lag behind the flood of life spilling toward the sparkling future that the new world holds in delirious promise. I speak not to the past in nostalgic gloss, as if the analog held more of the divine than the digital. To me it holds no more divinity than the horse holds over the locomotive. It seems fitting to me as a poet however, to comment upon the ironies of the age in which I find myself saturated, and so I speak toward the budding of the virtual bloom.

I come home from an outside full of people
to sit in front of no one
and press buttons on my machine
that tells me I am in my space
full of my friends
the illusion of contact
as my eyes interpret the symbols on this glowing square
to mean the vibrations of a human voice
and the lights that shine from images there
to mean the eyes of a living choice

a static representation of a fluid and breathing world

I receive a message from a stranger
anticipation sets in
is this why I am drawn to this place?
to gain contact with this person?
I open to an unimpressive question of
“what are you doing?”
I am sitting here in front of a computer
just like you, mystery picture
really neither of us are doing much of anything
my curiosity moves my navigator of this two dimensional world
to press upon the pic of this new exiting chick
which is the portal to her profile

soon, the real and the perceived real will meet
I will see you in the shop or pass you on the street
and press your face with my interface
to see who you are
or who you want to be
virtually

the profile of the sender of the question of my activity
redirects me
to a full screen picture of a victim of plastic surgery
and I am again posed with a question:
Have you (you mean me personally?)
ever (in my whole life?)
had (in my hand?)
a real (like for really real?)
web-cam (in real time or fake time?)
experience? (is that even possible?)
click here! (to be redirected again to more not-boobs)

and I think to myself about how I was sitting here
looking at a screen that isn’t really a space
that isn’t really mine
not really interacting with
people who aren’t really my friends
when I wasn’t really sent a question
by a profile that wasn’t real
but turned out to be a picture of a fake plastic person
inviting me (not really) to an unreal experience
that probably isn’t even what it pretends to be pretending to be

even if they convinced me to have this “real web-cam experience”
I would have given them imaginary money off of my credit card
to have a fake woman pretend to really be here with me…I guess

so I went to my brother-in-law’s birthday party in a suburb instead
he was my friend before he married my sister so it wasn’t an obligation
everyone was gathered loosely around a big screen television
three people at a time were playing a game called “rock band”
where you “play” “instruments” to rock radio hits like “are you experienced?”
the computer generated people on the screen were rocking their pants off
the computer generated crowd was going absolutely bananas to all of the rocking
the people in my sisters house were flicking little spring loaded tabs on plastic guitar shaped controllers
or sitting there watching wide eyed the ultra challenging licks and waiting for their turn to rock
someone said, “slash cant even get halfway through his own song (Sweet Child of Mine) on medium difficulty.”
wow, axle will probably kick him out of the band when he finds out how bad his fake guitar playing has gotten
they did this for about eight hours with a hour or so break for some cartoons
I heard this one Nirvana song like seventeen times
Kurt is happy we are slacking so hard

soon the real and the perceived real will meet
I will see you at a party or catch you at the beat
I will press my claps with my interface
and my avatar will participate
with the dance I programmed
that imitates who I am
or who I want to be
virtually

today I walked into the coffee shop, its our space
I talk to the human being who roasts my beans
I touch palms with the barista that pours my drink
I speak of real concerts in real places
I have had a hand in their creation
I sit in circles and speak about things that are really happening
I hug a real woman with real breasts and brush real lips with real breath
I feel the rain and walk the hills and touch my life and always will

I love the frontier, for the opportunity it brings
for the young to be rich, for the creative to dream
but it is all worthless to me, virtually
unless it is being used to bring me closer
closer to my reality
to the souls who are really around me
its power will not isolate me

What are ways we have used this virtuosity for the benefit of community?
In this vast and intangible paradise, who among us is harnessing its power for greater good?
Let us praise our pioneers who have seen that connectivity was woven into their creativity.
Link us to the places that will eventually save us from a truly realized virtual reality.