Autorank

Written in December '21

some of us practice
self-flagellation routinely,
whether it’s deserved or
not is a matter of
determinism, directed or not

the algorithm autoranks
your creative output and
somehow, your best work
winds up being lower than
slug sauce, snail s**t

a manifold, sundry lexicon
is apparently a measure of enervation,
but the valid, sound query remains,
why is that so?

we utilize prose in myriad ways,
deftly, descriptively, desperately even?

is the artwork not painted in
the way you deem it worthy?

the prose must paint the picture!

and the use of weak words is
knock-off Levitra to the
gatekeepers

but your seven minutes is up,
screams the one narrating the
Chuck Palahniuk nonfiction book
that nobody remembers reading

did I not paint a bright enough
portrait for you, dear reader?

or is this drivel just Picasso minus
the brilliance and the brass?

let’s see where the autorank
algorithm places the piece
upon upload, upon completion

either way, determinism wins
the gold once again, yet again

determined to be in the sewer,
and the non-deserved self-flagellation
begins once again