Synkroniciti is delighted to welcome back poet Benjamin Harnett of New York with “Dwarf Fortress Bugs,” a whimsical observation of glitches in the classic indie video game Dwarf Fortress. He provides a welcome bit of levity and irreverence. “As for myself, things seem to be going quite well/ this time, that is, aside from the flooding,/ and an inability to find the right stone./ I have not, for example, experienced/ a dwarf entering a strange mood,/ or felt that morale was screwy.” Our physical world may be entering an apocalyptic phase, but the catastrophes of an imaginary world still inspire pleasure. Formally, the poem is quirky with enjambment and its compartmentalization recalls the structure of the game itself.
Read “Dwarf Fortress Bugs” in our September 1st issue, “Broken,” available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Benjamin Harnett is a poet, fiction writer, historian, and digital engineer. His poetry has appeared recently in Poet Lore, Saranac Review, ENTROPY, and the Evansville Review. He is the author of the novel THE HAPPY VALLEY and the short story collection GIGANTIC. He lives in Cherry Valley, NY, with his wife Toni and their collection of eccentric pets. He works for The New York Times.