The Rainbow Road Not Taken
Oft when on my couch I lie
In console playing mood
Their worlds they fill my inward eye
The bliss of gaming solitude
I wandered on Lakitu's cloud
that floats on bytes o-er pipes and hills
when all at once I saw fire flowers
piranha plants and shrooms like pills
Climbed ladders playing Chuckie Egg
telepathy had become real
Into a 16 year olds head
Programmers inner worlds revealed
Zx Spectrum Bitmap colour
Just one bit per pixel
Type LOAD " " , start tape
8-Bit landscape
simple adventures, blissful
the sound of Data
one low, nought high
those crazy flashing lines
Manic Miner, Chequered Flag
School Daze, the best of times
In the arcade cabinet i have sat
and zoomed through vector graphics
blew up Death Stars, lassoed At-Ats
And flew to other planets
In Another World, a world of blue
There were no words
No internet
In Ico, I spent weeks in towers
The nostalgia of the infinite
My heart still aches for Yorda
and the abandoned boy
I climbed and rode 16 Colossi
raised Wander's sword, and jumped for joy
I took my part in the Bards tale
and walked through Baldur's Gate
fought enemies in dark dungeons
and smashed a million crates
I've cruised in boats and starships too
through open worlds and galaxies
found trading routes within Elite
set sail with Link on the great sea
I jumped through time in Time Splitters
played as Kings, and Orcs, and Cats
fought countless wars, with guns and swords
with only tea spilled, on mouse mats
first person Shooters, RPGS,
action, Adventure , Sports
epic sprawling massive campaigns
cute independent shorts
a POW Escape from deep within,
an ancient German castle
first in 2D and then in 3
Those Nazis were all assholes
Fergus ,Wyatt, Hendrix, and Tesla
the different paths in Wolfenstein
alternate realities that test ya
your destiny, your own timeline
I dream of streets in New Orleans
that I have walked with Lincoln Clay
raised hell for weeks in lost Heaven
and lost whole days in Empire Bay
I've been James Bond in GoldenEye
also the mud skipper, James Pond
I stormed Normandy 2003
the very first and finest C.O.D
Black Mesa Cave, hope is a slave,
and Gordon is a freeman
Half- Life decay
VR today
held captive by the G-Man
W,A,S and ,D
have long moved characters for me
The Last Of Us and poor Max Payne
now lost in time, like tears in rain
I 've seen things you people would not believe
attack ships on fire, a pink playstation
I grew up with people who set us free
open world procedural generation
some seem to get their downtime thrills
by dancing with the daffodils
but I'll take worlds, fantastic worlds
and things I can control
when things are bad and I am sad
I'll be consoled by my console
For worlds created are no less
real than the one we walk through
less traveled yes, there is no best
choose who you want to talk to
roads may diverge switch back and merge
fact and fiction promote growth
we pass through this yellow wood but once
so why not travel both?
our lives are randomly switched on
new levels every year
we bounce like pixels within pong
the final boss, now holds no fear
These are places I remember all my life,
from different games
some are in my dreams forever
some uninstalled and some are saved
all these games they had their moments
alone and with friends, I've played them all
in some I'm stuck and some are finished
in my life I loved them all
