Date: February 4th, 2025 7:23 AM
Author: amber doctorate university
The wind howls through dead elms,
whistling against my drafty House.
Winter bites, but I barely feel it—
the glow of my monitor is warmth enough.
I am 40. I am Bald.
I do not get laid.
My headset crackles:
a meeting, another one,
numb faces in little squares,
voices like static,
tasks stacking like the snow outside.
Lunch is cold coffee,
a sandwich eaten in silence.
The Xbox boots up, its green glow mocking me.
Losing the gen, losing the game.
I drop into a lobby full of kids
who move faster than my reflexes allow.
I tell myself I don’t care.
I don’t have friends. I don’t go out.
I wouldn’t know where to go.
Once, I had Hair. Once, my Skull wasn’t expanded.
Now the mirror tells a different story.
Connecticut winter stretches endlessly ahead,
a gray sky, an empty inbox, an ignominious Xbox
another day alone,
waiting for nothing.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5675073&forum_id=2#48620613)