Cosmic Quiche

blackness outside
a void that swallows all
sound and sense
leaving only the hum
of the city's machinery
grinding its gears
in the darkness

inside a night
writhing with snakes
of pale lightning
twisty and fuzzy
like the thoughts
that slither through
my mind
refusing to take shape
refusing to be caught

some time later
in a place where
time loses all meaning
a bright beam ahead
shone like a beacon
in the void
a whisper in the air
that echoed through
my skull
bellowing like a beast
unleashed and unchained

the light was a message
from some unknown source
a transmission from
a distant star
a signal that pierced
the fog of my consciousness
like a shaft of light
through the cracks
in the walls of my mind

the film was being shown
on a cathode-ray oscilloscope
a screen that flickered
with the pulse of the universe
a series of letters
broken words
signs and symbols
all part of an undeciphered code
perhaps undecipherable
a language that defied
all attempts at translation

i sat there
mesmerized by the glow
trying to decipher
the secrets of the cosmos
trying to crack the code
but it remained elusive
a mystery that refused
to yield its secrets
leaving me with only
the echoes of my own mind

the beam of light
continued to shine
a steady pulse
that seemed to synchronize
with the beat of my heart
a rhythm that quickened
as the symbols flashed
by in a blur
of meaning and nonsense

i felt myself
being pulled into the screen
into the vortex of the code
a whirlpool of signs
and symbols that swirled
around me like a maelstrom
dragging me down
into the depths of the unknown

and yet i couldn't look away
couldn't tear my eyes
from the hypnotic glow
of the oscilloscope
couldn't resist the siren's call
of the undeciphered code
that seemed to hold
the secrets of the universe

in its twisted and fuzzy heart.