I get home it starts
the marathon in front
of a screen that takes
up most of my time
and where I go to
ignore the whole world
as if no one was there
and I was the only one
that mattered
while people try to
distract me from what
I have to do so I
can be accomplished
in my sense of the word
as I run from the evils
that aren’t real and
never will be
my friends chattering
in my ears
me shouting back
door being knocked on
Cthulhus and Headcrabs
surrounding me
I can’t just step away
because she wants me to
she is the bane of my
existence
but I have to call
her my mother
because that’s what
she is to me
I ignore her beck
and her calls
so I can get out of the
sticky situation
that I got myself into
by not paying attention
as my ammo supply
runs lower and lower
and the nearest
re-supply is down
the path and through
the monsters who
want to tear into me
and send me back to
my beginning
with nothing in
my hands
she calls again
I yell back
friends still chattering
that I need to double-tap
super jump and punch
reload and be
freed from this mess
but it’s a chaos in my ears
as I try to focus on
the sounds of the game
trying to ignore everything
else that will
distract me from my
purpose tonight of
beating what I need
so I can move on
and maybe finally
pause to deal with
talking to my dad
helping my sister
playing with the dogs
things my mother wants
me to be involved in
but I am interacting
with people in the sense
of talking to them over
my headset but it
makes no sense to her
because I’m not really
seeing the people I’m
talking to and that’s
fine by me because
I don’t need to see
to know who I talk to
when I’m focused on
my games as I try
not to die and watch
my head fly off-camera
bullets juggling my
body parts as I’m
ripped apart by shrapnel
and lose everything that
I have worked hard for
or had been given to me
in game by my friends
because those things
I can’t get back
and now my sister
is bothering me to
come out and do the
dishes but the Bloodmounts
and Fast Zombies
are still coming after
me and if I pause I’ll
miserably fail this
ever-important
gather the disemboweled
heart of a Shivan
and drag my team-mates
down with me as
the rank falls and
the prize drops
and all because
my family will not
can’t understand
that I need to focus
and not be disturbed
to do such simple things
that someone else
could do with
no problems because
they’re not busy
like me