“Certain”

It’s a sure thing, the short odds bet /

Muscles rippling in the gate /

Her jockey the picture of calm /

The toast of the clubhouse /

Since way back when

When grandad was the chairman /

And promises were made in the name of love /

The world; a house built of simple truths /

That added up to something /

Bigger than us all, they said

They said it with the power of conviction /

Beloved by politicians and cult leaders /

But we’d heard that one on FB /

We were wise to it’s game /

We only made promises we intended to keep

And keep them we did, for the most /

We doubled down on livestream /

Made them anew, without the old photos (too lo-res) /

It was there in memory anyway /

We’d always know what we meant

But when we tried to find the fine print /

Long after mistakes were made /

The cables on the hard drive had changed /

All backups faulty; lost passwords returning /

To someone we no longer knew