Where are my #GenX at? This one’s for you. It’s also for those older and younger than us, who are either confused or impressed or, hopefully, inspired by our resilience — the fact that we truly do seem to represent a generation squarely situated in between the good old days and whatever the 21st Century is becoming.
Big thanks, as always, to Exterminating Angel Press for publishing my work (as usual, amongst so many other talented artists — shout out to the indefatigable and awesome Tod Davies) and, with the ceaseless shitstorm that is our current reality, I’m fervently hoping we can channel some of this resilience, empathy, and community. Plus, we’ll always have Ms. Pac-Man.
Gen X Exegesis
How else can our resilience be explained
except by the video games we played—
the early ‘80s offering us invaders from space
on screen and nuclear apocalypse everywhere else
(except when we were asleep, and that’s the lesson
we learned, cable TV our textbook: death never rests),
so even when you’re staying alive and winning,
it’s imperative to amass more, all the time:
lives & extra energy & points & whatever else
you can put in the bank—immunity as antidote,
because every day in the future’s a rainy one
if we get caught on the wrong side of ever-after:
it’s Game Over once we’re out of quarters or luck.
