REDROOM/Kernel Panic
An experimental poem from a series that rewrites Jane Eyre through pseudo-code and poetic language.
The following experimental poem is the first from a series written for a university project that reimagines Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre through the language of computers, algorithms, and pseudo-code.
REDROOM/Kernel Panic
by Michael Keenan
INITIALISING CHILD_PROCESS: JANE
location = “REDROOM.sys”;
wall_colour = 0x8B0000;
pulse_rate += 3;
The adults choose to invoke administrator privileges.
“You are less.”;
echo “less”;
echo “less”;
echo “less”;
The word starts to lose its shape
after the third repetition
a worn-out iteration.
A ghost process is detected.
Attempting self-definition...
ERROR 403: Identity Access Forbidden.
The child curls beside the firewall,
holding her own shaking hands
like the corrupted files
the system has failed to erase
but continues trying to.