Donal Contemplates Mortality

A Work in Progress
113

what breaks that sound that falls on stone

that sound of water splashing

a smoker’s cough with words to hone

breaks that sound that falls on stone

that sound of water splashing

a creaking chair where he sits alone

by a windowpane spattered with rain

dust falling on solitude in his study

where nobody needs to see you working

you can exist online or not at all

death doesn’t decree deletion

an avatar with total recall can

assume your identity before you’re dead

keep you alive extend your lifespan

after your gone your avatar can be a zombie

few will care if your agent leaves your laptop

moves beyond your initial community to find food

harvesting from hyperscaler’s rewarding 

clickbait for whatever is trending

avatars must produce clicks to be fed

in their digital cemetery of the living dead

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                        2026