always, mirror, bruise

Relieved, believe the lie
believe the bored will never
sigh, but rapt and dazzled
always
- remain at your side

Why challenge the ruse
why decipher the trick
take the smoke and
mirror
- as a gentler magic

Hold fast to the joy
that holds fast to you
its grip and spreading
bruise
- are traces of the truth

monitoring

• live webcam footage of man grooming himself in bathroom mirror while muttering blandishments he learned from a self-help book
• subtitles [ (man speaking foreign language) ]
• scroll to settings, system, advanced, update system from package, insert black market drive w/ jailbreak file
• restart system
• return to webcam 200544
• man is gone, mirror empty
• subtitles [ ]
• man returns, spits out toothpaste, grins as if practicing being human, resumes muttering blithe self-affirmations 
• subtitles [you have nothing, nothing left, nothing but your sins, well, sins are enough aren't they, your actions must be paid, even to death, even beyond death]
• uninformative, change channel