Blue pill, red pill,
iridescent green LCD

letters, numbers, & symbols
dripping down the screen:

What’s the truth, Neo?
Even the oracle didn’t know.

But here, in our real matrix
where we watch you, Keanu,

play any number of Johns,
Johnnys, or Jacks,

where we watch you time travel
& beat Death even when

he cheats at his own games
to keep you from living again,

here, Keanu, no matter what,
all of us have chosen you to be

The One.

Kip Knott’s most recent book of poetry is Tragedy, Ecstasy, Doom, and so on (Kelsay Books). He has writing and photographs forthcoming in Barren Magazine, Great Lakes Review, La Piccioletta Barca, and Versification, More of his work can be accessed at kipknott.com.