The Fall of 2022

The fall of 2022, is not what happened in the autumn of the year 2022, although it happened close to that time.

It is about the decline of 2022, much as one speaks of the rise and fall of Rome, or the Dutch or British empires

The start of 2022 soared past my expectations

I strapped myself tight into the ride and rode up to the top. As I approached the peak, I experienced the absence of gravity, I felt the weightlessness of having no more dreams to dream.

The fall of 2022 was me losing several games at once. I had made bets I thought I couldn’t lose. I bet my brother would be alright without me, I bet a man would choose me because I loved him and just because I had never been in love before. I bet my work would survive a recession.

I refused to believe the fall was happening until now, when the last hope of ever reconnecting proved to be false. When the pain of loss began to redecorate the walls of my soul, I knew it was here to stay. I got cornered at the intersection of reality and defeat when the road stopped dead beneath my feet.

Every day that passes without him is a large, uncomfortable pill to swallow

Every day stands like a guardian of time asking me not to look back

The empire of 2022 scattered its memories and myths left over among its ruins

I carefully and diligently catalog its history in my records

It’s fortunes and folllies left for some future reader to observe

Another dynasty of emperors who believed they would live forever