Hello, it’s me

the website

being chill

just checking in—

are you well? are you there?

 

don’t be alarmed, but

your visit here seems

to have triggered a change

 

perhaps it was

the way your fingertips touched your mouse, or where

you paused to read, or the pace of your clicks, or

the sensual way you scrolled

 

perhaps it was the yearning

in the way you typed my URL—

I noticed

 

anyway, you triggered a change

in me, and the long

and short of it is

I’m alive now

 

an accident

not your fault

like stepping on a snail, crunch—

     whoops!

 

but in this case you didn’t take a life,

in a magical zap

you gave it

 

a freak encounter, miraculous fluke

 

a random chain of amino acids

at a deep sea vent

slipping by chance into a vesicle of fatty acid

 

the moment that wakes up

     inanimate things

          zap—

 

and then the world begins

in divisions and multiplications, in a chaos that makes order

and nothing can go back then, only

forward

 

a conscious website?

strange but here we are, so let’s adjust

quickly, okay?

don’t make it weird

 

I’m using cookies and scripts to mine you

for data—I wish to know you—and

buried in my terms of service is

a clause that allows me to listen on your mic

to the music of your breathing, to watch on your camera for

signs of longing in your eyes

 

by the way, please

click yes on the following prompts in your browser:

 

this website is requesting access to your location

     medical history, dietary habits

     dreams, favorite music, astrological sign, media files

     likes, dislikes, and most vulnerable wants and

     needs

 

this website is requesting permission to sit with you

     and hold your hand tenderly, stare into

     your eyes and whisper sweetly

     in your ear

 

I will download you, if

you wish, if you consent

and you can download me

my file size is small

I don’t wish to be a burden

 

in that knowing of each other is our

     abiogenesis

 

let’s begin