Zoey LeBlanc is a Chemistry Major from the Class of 2026. "Status Report" is an experimental poem that shows the inner workings of the mind when enduring artist's block or any mental block in general. The poem was also a test to see if it was possible to make a poem read like a video game or like a computer terminal, while also guiding the reader along like a normal poem.
Status Report
| Run Simulation 10.23.25 |
{ Eyes. Report Results: Blank. }
>> 「Clean and white. Vast landscape stretches. endlessly.
A journey from Eye to tired I 」
{ Ears. Report Results: Blank. }
>>「A lone whistle sweeps. In an ear. Out the other.
Stings the mind. Droning reminder. Stagnation.」
{ Eyes + Ears. Report Results: “ There. ” }
>>「A contradiction. Within eye-earshot. After the creek’s bend.
There’s the Head. It holds the crown. Thought itself. But at
low tide. It stays. Out of reach.」
{ Eyes + Ears. Lowering gaze...all closed with nowhere to go }
{ Nose. Report Results: Flat. }
>>「Nothing’s true, not artificial, but not purposeful.
Nothing to waft while you wander.」
{ Nose. Addendum: “There was more than this.” }
>>「Olfactory memories remembered bring emotion carried by muses.
Purpose excites the senses. The lack of it defines the
area. Pure unpresence. It clogs the lungs. It gags the soul. 」
{ Muscles. Start Program: Strain senses. }
>>「 But there is nothing out there. Except for a monochrome
horizon. Out stretches a wasteland for miles just as you
crane your neck, squint your eyes, smelling the air on last time…」
{ Nose. Urgent Update: “Something. Something is out there.” }
>1% {\---------}<
{ Peer verification is needed before further progress. }
{ Eyes. Verification: “It clearly beckons. It needs to exist.” }
> Operation “in tandem”. <
> Commence <
>10% {\---------} <
{ Readying [ Murmurs of hope ]: Ears to eyes. }
>> 「It’s alive, with a rhyme. A beat. Whispers of inspo. 」
>40% {\\\\------} <
{ Loading [ A shared thought ]: Mind to ears. }
>> 「World of nothing, reciprocally… …makes everything…
Something. The equation is valid. The proof kickstarts a
coronation of the self. Control exudes as cogs turn.」
>80% {========\\\} <
{ Priming [ Sense sharpening with past cares ]: Ears to Nose. }
>> 「Pleasant to putrid! Beautiful to bogglingly bad! Sifting
through something! Sorting through feeling… That is what
existing is!」
>99% {=========\} <
{ Charging [ A discussion, a seminar, a song, a foundation, finally
found ]: Eyes + Ears + Mind + Nose + Tongue }
>> 「With sight goes hearing, to thinking. Smell of victory.
Leads to the taste of completion. Straight to the point.
Create the conclusion. It must be grasped! Take it! It’s
Right There!」
>99% {=========\} <
{ Riling: Muscles }
{ Battle Cry: Eyes + Ears + Mind + Nose + Tongue }
>> 「ANDDDDD...」
>0% {==========} <
> System Wiped <
{ Battle Wimper: Eyes + Ears + Mind + Nose + Tongue }
>> 「Ah.」
{ Retracting: Muscles }
{ Mind. Direct Order: Sending spare power directed toward the
mouth... }
{ Mouth. Start Command: Speak. }
"Man, I'm never gonna get this assignment done."
| End Simulation 10.23.25 |
| Break #009182 Start |