CAPTCHA

You’re an A-hole really,
my optic nerve skewered

far into my cerebellum.
by this chastity belt for

the Web. Postage stamp
pictures, grainier than beach

sand, but missing warmth.

Hacker no, hackee yes,
but minor troubles, once

a laptop purchase — quickly
erased, though the schmuck

reordered sixty-four minutes
later. But you, CAPTCHA,

you’ve held me hostage
one hundred plus times

Mark all photos with toe
shoes, mark all photos with

with cyanobacteria,
mark all photos with

tires made in Kurume
Japan, mark all photos with a

book title in six point
Gothic.

After three rounds I curse this
century, and then just exhale.

Defenestration December 2022