Lucid_Malware.zip, by Dylan Sonderman

“Lucid Malware takes readers on an existential tumble through the darkness, and Dylan
Sonderman’s words are like a net that catches us, as if there’s a true seer guiding us through the
mathematic problem of self and reality.”

– Chad W. Lutz, author of For the Time Being.

Viruses aren’t classified as living things, at least, not by the definitions used by most scientists. They are like glitches in the cosmic code of DNA, spreading and replicating to bring terrifying sickness and fear to a world already teetering in the vacuum of nihilistic materialism and senseless suffering. And like the malicious plague that sent our world into a global pandemic in 2020, computer viruses operate in much the same way.
Now imagine if there was a computer virus that, instead of causing destruction, the purpose of its code was to bring about a subtle illumination in the user, or in this case, the reader. Imagine, if you will, that it replicated and spread to increase the love and cheerfulness on earth, to bring hope amidst the pain of mental illness and existential angst, to help humans smile again.
To quote the great martial artist and philosopher Bruce Lee: “If there is always light, you don’t experience light anymore. You have to have the rhythm of light and darkness.” This poetry is an attempt to balance the scale, an attempt to stimulate and liberate us within this ever-changing rhythm. Lucid_Malware.zip is an attempt to shine a light in your living darkness.