by Andrew Hilbert
we were two costco employees
bullshitting about nothing to pass the time
to drown out the buzzing beeping
of the machines we worked that drowned
down the sound of our own minds
and of course we talked about videogames
bragging of our virtual slaughterhouses
on our murder simulators
we were proud of our kill/death ratio
an older lady glared at us
she had patches of hair on her chin
and she says
"videogames are the downfall of western
civilization"
she felt righteous and walked herself out
she didn't say goodbye
i didn't say have a nice day
i became silent and thought about
the downfall of western civilzation
i thought about hiroshima
i thought about nagasaki
i thought about auschwitz
and buchenwald, gulags, abu ghraib
and napalm
i couldn't put a beginning to the end
of western civilization
and every day was potentially a new
end
Andrew Hilbert lives and works in Orange County. He also edits Beggars & Cheeseburgers magazine.
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