The sold-as-utopian
boldly dystopic anti-human result
of relentless full-spectrum efforts
by a depraved enslavement-fixated cult

to keep the magical analog world
with its organic wonders without number
away from the human race

the cold totalitarian reach
of the global digital prison
was expanding apace

all the while it was an unspoken given
that notions of both physical
and spiritual connection
were heresies that must be kept hidden;

hidden from the borg-absorbed faithful
since separation from others and nature
were pillars of a brave new religion
that revolved around stealth self-erasure

— an erasure discreetly induced
through attention span contraction
pernicious addiction
to vacuous distraction

and the intentional mental constriction
and cognitive decline-by-design
that arise from AI's hive-mind entrapment.