the world outside is full of wonder
and little episodes that come and go
all of a sudden
and they went by so fast
that there are only moments left
to discover —

                        people with open eyes will see
                        but the so-called woke youth won’t
                        because everything they see
                        is in their mobilephones —

        their world is flat and reduced to
        a space of just a few square centimetres —

what’s true and what’s fake?
for flatlanders it doesn’t matter
everything is just entertainment
entering the flat space
here comes the taunting phase —

                flatlanders don’t move any more
                their mobile phones do this for them
                they are moved to tears
                and reduced to emotions —

                                flatland isn’t the place for reason
                                because reason doesn’t sell
                                only emotion will tell
                                what you love and what you hate —

emotions generate reactions and
only visible actions are countable —

        outlanders are used to anonymity
        when they walk outside in the countryside
        on the streets
        no one will tell or see
        what they think, what they feel —

while flatlanders are in constant observation
every click, every like
every comment, every eye movement
is counted and written down
into the flatland file of visibility —

                                you are what you click
                                or else you get sick —

                        the more you do in flatland
                        the less comfortable you’ll feel in outland
                        you’ll get sick of the snow
                        the cold, the sun and the heat —

flatlanders aim for a permanent seat at home
surrounded by screens and it seems
that outlanders are a dying people —

                but will that really be the case one day?
                well, humanity could get extinct and ceased to be
                but algorithms might continue
                simulating a human society —

                                        total saftely will be the ultimate goal
                                        freedom not so much —

so, once upon a time
when aliens from outer space will race
to finally visit earth
they will only meet
technical, non breathing entities
possibly playing chess against each other
furthest apart.

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        © Dominik Alexander / 2024
        © Gerd Altmann (image)