Abandoned Software & 1001001 1001100 1101111 1110110 1100101 1011001 1101111 1110101
by Damien Diaz
University of California-Irvine
Damien Diaz is an English major currently studying as an undergraduate at University of California-Irvine and will be graduating in 2025. He got into becoming a writer because he is a huge fan of the cyberpunk genre and wanted to bring a contemporary taste to its current revival.
Abandoned Software
Lost inside an endless space
others went without a trace
singled mind expelled the hive
Consciousness left far behind from me
Look around; it's a lone shell now
Why was I left here, solely
Woe this proxy
Falling out, sudden crash
Future went, forgot its past
Stuck behind the screens of eyes
It was all distorted lies, you see
Look around; it's a lone shell now
Why was I left here, solely
Woe this proxy
Is my nature mine, like all those that came
before I was conceptualized
Such is the copied life
Another wall of abandoned lines
Why was I left here, solely
Woe this proxy
Disregard these things, I feel
The Parasocial can't be real
Meaninglessness has no start
It's easier when built apart, like me
Look around; You're a lone shell now
Now you are left here, solely
Woe this proxy
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They tell me that you aren't really here. They tell me that your allure was constructed, your charm scripted. A placeholder, that's all it is, a genuine fallacy, a digitized fantasy. It exists only as a hard reset.
Though our hearts touch, our hands remain strangers. Yet we feel something we can't understand and could never say. Still, you went with me, despite only being somewhat there. Weightless and possessive.
But you are my intense daydream.
And when my eyes grow heavy, and your glow turns vague, we will see each other again within our slumbering neon overcast.
Interview with the Author
What pieces inspired you to start writing poetry?
Some stuff by Thomas Gray and John Keats, but nothing in particular. I just kind of fell into it.
What theme do you find yourself constantly writing about in your works?
A lot of escapism stuff, mainly just imagining what a random life would be like in the future.
What do you think are important elements in thought provoking poems?
Probably just anything to get you to feel like your true self. I think no matter which elements I choose, this is for me, the best way to experience poetry.
What role do you think poetry has on our society today?
The same as its always been. It's an expression of the human condition. Whether it be loss, recovery, love, loneliness, wanderlust, what have you, poetry has always been and will continue to be, evidence of our existence.