The Impulse Purchase out of Space

At this very moment, in a dimension
That touches our own, yet is different
In every conceivable and inconceivable way,

A creature squats in its horrible home
And looks at an image of my tender brain
On a device held in its greedy claws.

A banner flashes above my brain picture
It says “92% Match! 1 Available! Hurry!
5 others have it in their cart! Buy now!”

Its claw twitches — a moment of decision
Is my tender brain and all its sanity.
Worth the cost? It seems a lot, really.

On the other hand, it is a Daily Deal.
The price will surely increase
And see how many also ponder!

It hovers its claw over the button
CONSUME NOW CONSUME NOW
Yes, it supposes, I shall. (…click…)

Sometimes I get a weird image in my head that doesn’t make a ton of sense until I slide it into fiction. This poem started in my head as a clear image of a Lovecraftian horror browsing whatever passes for an e-commerce site in its own dimension. The next day, I read a post about how online shopping sites put a lot of effort into matching what we buy and browse with what other things they have in stock, then telling us just how much the new stuff is a match to our preferences. I suppose I could have written about a computer arrogant enough to tell us what we like and what we need, but that wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun. Though, it might come up later. You never know.

(Photo Credit: holdentrils on Pixabay)