Might be your belief system, not any one
Single belief but the whole mechanism
Might be drowning
In its own smug delusion
As a way of coping with unhappiness and
Trauma
As a way of claiming identity
A ghost ship emerging out of the mist
You questionable experiment, you
Justifier of near-truths and superstitious oaths
Creating beautiful excuses
Fairytales of mismatched narratives
Open your eyes, look directly
Into the abyss
The mirage is your big, bulky stubbornness
The mirage is your addiction to certainty
Addicted to the gospel of the mirage
The mirage is a way of avoiding answers
To painful questions
The mirage is not a fixed and forgone
Conclusion
Maybe the mirage dies a fiery death
Maybe the mirage survives out of spite
Remember empathy and impermanence
Remember this will all end
Dumb and free and smart and stuck
If you no longer need an answer
The mirage loses its currency, its power
Going lights out until total clarity
Unplugging, deprogramming
Conjuring the courage to finally crawl
Out of this vapid blinking toxicity
Valuing the power of listening instead
Antennae attuned to the discomfort
Of different perspectives
Channeling light to spite it all
Chris D'Errico
Chris D’Errico’s writings, music, and visual art have appeared in various analog and digital mediums for the last three decades. He is the author of several poetry collections including “Realistic Meat Substitute” (Impsired Publishing, 2025). He has worked as a line cook, a neon sign maker, and an exterminator, among other vocational adventures. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, D'Errico lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Active in the Vegas art, poetry and performance scene, D’Errico’s latest project is with Rat’s Ass Productions, managing the indie/experimental music project, Dungaree Toga.