Gazing at the lights of a distant city
With the halos so bright, makes them seem so pretty
While hiding the fires with the shine of a spire
As it's blinding my eyes to the mire and the pity
Lens flare, everywhere, but color still muted
It feels so real it could be an illusion
Breathing in the air that you're consuming
But there’s no ceiling to what we're pursuing
Landscape is moving at the speed of light
Embrace, lean in, and hold on tight
Escape, and we win; let's ride away tonight
On a wave underpinned by particles of light
We're seeking one thing that makes us whole
But looking inside I see I already know
I pull the rip cord as I roll my totem
Then suddenly from this strange loop, I'm awoken

Is it real? I don't know
So surreal, so it goes.
What I know for sure
Is we've been here before

Around loops flipping, but will we escape?
Bounds rend will; afflictions from outbreak
Sounds lacerated like switch grooves make
Now fabricated is real, and clear lies shake

Eyes dilate as I wake, who am I?
An astray castaway in a fading mind
There’s a haze in the maize and gray shades that pervades
From a wayward blaze gaining strength in the sky
I gaze across the waste where all is fallen
The sun, black sackcloth, and moon is auburn
A gale circulates far away, then a bang
Makes me pause the game and take off my goggles
In real life, I retract the curtains
The wind is swirling, and a storm is surging
A disturbing parallel to the game, unnerving
Is reality real? Suddenly uncertain
An infinite Droste-like sim emerging
The power flickers, dark/light, reversing
The game restarts as worlds are blurring
Eyes dilate, in verse recursion

Is it real? I don't know
So surreal, so it goes
But I know for sure
we've been here before

Around loops flipping but will we escape?
Bounds rend will; afflictions from outbreak
Sounds lacerated like switch grooves make
Now fabricated is real, and clear lies shake

Pulling apart Cartesian thought
comes in particles, contiguous nows
24 frames per second, wrought
To make sensations wave-like somehow
Questions echoing, a sonic well
The Absurd Man whispers, holding sway
Losing perspective, who compels?
A voyeur saboteur, unconstrained
Around and around and around, we trek
Awakening from deep dreamless sleep
Who’s the I when we last met?
How can I be sure this mind is me?
Searching for the seat of the self
An occupant in this anthropoid home
A house of mirrors, a costume shell
Stranger in a strange man, adrift, alone

Am I real, I don’t know?
So surreal, so it goes
Do I know for sure
If I’ve been here before?

Shake lies clear, and real is fabricated now
Make grooves switch like lacerated sounds
Break out from afflictions will rend bounds
Escape? We will but flipping loops around