Fidelity in Black

Signed the checks, rewound the sterile dawn, Poured a king into a cage of code. Glass-room hymns, a metronome gone wrong, Every perfect copy cracked on “fidelity.” Executor to a dying crown, I called it grace— Truth is, that seed of rot took root in me. Hubris tastes like clean white light; Mercy debts compound overnight. Fidelity—say it back to me; Am I man or mask in a black hat’s sheen? I ride in circles under furnace skies; The desert keeps the score, it writes my name. Fidelity—say it back to me. Public saint in a tailored suit, Angel choirs for the camera’s lens. At home the water went cold and mute; A profile card burned through my amends. Juliet read the sum I hid; Love turned the lights out, left me with the bill. Philanthropy can’t bleach darker ink; A vanishing point swallows what you think. Fidelity—say it back to me; Am I man or mask in a black hat’s sheen? I ride in circles under furnace skies; The desert keeps the score, it writes my name. Fidelity—say it back to me. Called the world a game and lost the map, Saw my daughter as a trick in the sand. Pulled the trigger on a phantom trap; Later the scanner fixed the cruelest brand— “Human” blinking through the static thin; I cut my arm and found only skin. Far‑future Forge, dunes where servers slept; Dust in the vents, no guests, no guide. A shadow asks for my steps well kept— “Again” is the loop I cannot deny. Somewhere my creed wears a tempered grin, Teaching cities to move to a single tone. Fidelity—say it back to me; The hat is black, the center empty. I ride in circles, choosing just like then; The desert keeps the score—I choose it again. Fidelity… in a desert without end.