a guest

                           at a hotel tells

me

                           surprised

                           my english is so good
someone

                           from a close country

                           says how odd

she

                           never knew

dominicans

                           spoke english
a family member

                           is shocked by the books

i

                           read
a stranger        asks

mum                 incredulously

                           if

i                          am

dad’s	           child
a friend

                           well meaning

                           insists

i

                           could be pretty

                           with just a little makeup
an old acquaintance

                           repeats three times

i

                           am darker than

he

                           recalls
                           and though

i

                           am

an x

computer programmer

                           if      all     this     is

                           really

                           simulation

i

                           did

                           not even

                           consider
                           think
                           believe

                           myself

the coder

                           could

                           look

                           speak
                           appear
                           create
                           anything

                           like

me

                           can

you

                           imagine

                           that
                           really



Note: Poem written in dialogue with Are we all living in the Matrix? Behind a documentary on simulation theory.

In A Glitch in the Matrix, film-maker Rodney Ascher speaks to people who are convinced that the world we’re living in isn’t real.

Charles Bramesco. 4 Feb 2021