Sadness is my favorite video game
I am its hero
the little man with facial hair
scampering through pixilated cities
looking for clues
and accumulating shit
without knowing why
trying not
to be crushed
or free fall
into the not-world’s dark
as 8-bit clouds
scroll across the pre-
programmed sky
it’s exhausting
but I take it
next level
I am happy here
it feels real
and I can always die



               Artwork by Jon-Michael Frank