i was driving through

Rancho Cucamonga

on the highway past

the most beautiful scenery

i had ever seen

the sky was a coloring book blue

and the mountains

were red yellow orange green

and the serenity was so strong

i was surprised that there were

no car accidents

time was slow

or the highway was long

and it felt like it would never end

and i didn’t want it to

and without warning

a wal-mart appeared

perfectly set, alone

with the mountains becoming

a green screen

it felt like a fever dream

or a simulation

and the people walking into

the wal-mart were pixels

and my car window became

a screen that displayed an episode

of Black Mirror

i debated stopping into the wal-mart

but fear stopped me

but the feeling that i would enter

a different universe, a fake video game

stopped me

those people those pixels

those robots went to this wal-mart

once a week as if it was commonplace

as if it was supposed to be there

as if it was supposed to be there