Noise.  White noise.  Wallflower.

Whispers across the aisle.

Rising from the fog

Voice.  “A million dollars.”

Are they talking to me?

Unexpectedly and not likely.

Who am I in this noise?

Is my voice recognizable?

Buy some time sometime

And use it in a better world.

How much?  Charge it to my room.

When is it expected to arrive?

You do not know?  What about express delivery?

Free shipping?  Customer service?

What am I paying for?

What are we all paying for?

You promised.  No, you guaranteed.

On backorder?  An image?

I have seen all your images.

I want a better world now!

You have what?  A gumball machine?

A promo pen and a pill to keep me calm?

A newer model?  A free upgrade?

Unlimited miles?  Extra points?

A photo opportunity?

Do you have a rose?

No, not an image.  A real rose

That smells like a rose.

I am suffocating in a make-believe world –

Walls, robots, election booths,

Man-made catastrophes,

$738 billion defense budget,

Mock sympathies, finger-pointing

And some more finger pointing

Iced with promises,

Black Friday exuberance,

Netflix utopia,

Fantasy football,

Fantasy government,

Credit card debt,

Student loan debt,

Moral debt,

Facetime, Facebook,

FaceLock, FaceVault,

Face Swap Live…

Is Christmas real?

Am I real?  Pat me down.

Now!  I want to feel.

I want to be sure

That I still exist

Somewhere on this planet.

I just want to smell a rose!

Broken algorithm?  Try again later?

Arriving from Central America

With a free 2-day shipping?

Okay.  Noise.  More noise.