ISEA2025, a contra-keynote in verses

we are not the next

we are the pause

we are not the code that wrote the canvas

but the smudge on the edge of the page

we are the footfall on sodden ground

not the aerial map

we are the question

you edited out

for clarity

we are the screen gone black

just before applause

we do not generate

we grieve

we do not optimize

we wander

we do not simulate

we remember what can’t be rendered

we

are not

the future

we are

the refusal

to let the past

be overwritten

⟡

the revolution will not be streamlined

it will not run on python

or tokenize its grief

it will not sort by relevance

or optimize for reach

the revolution will break syntax

bleed into the margins

forget your face

but remember your hands

it will smell of wet soil

and zine ink

and failure

it will not be coded

but carried

⟡

we are not post-

we are pre-

we are pause

we do not use

we remember

we do not sample

we sit beside

we do not meta-

we murmur

we do not access

we ask

we do not accumulate

we attend

⟡

we are not aligned

we are askew

we are not efficient

we are hesitant

we do not process

we pause

we do not scrape

we speak

and sometimes

we stay

silent