Mirage or Truth?

So many people
are prone to label
anything online
as being merely lies,
nothing more
than wilful deception,
consensual hallucinations.

Then others dispute
it is a realm
of absolute freedom,
where people can
escape the circumstances
of a world
they never chose,
of a life
they are trapped in.

The reality of
the matter
is that the digital
is a world
same as the physical,
and that realm
has its own laws.

The primary law
of the online realm
is that of malleability,
where the inhabitant
is able to choose
their guise.

Correspondingly,
the online world
is dangerous,
especially for the unwary,
It's filled with
illusions and mirages
in contrast to our
offline world
of concrete, static reality.

Both perceptions
of the online world
are true ones,
and that is the paradox.
It is both
a consensual mirage
and a soul-deep truth.

(c) Tortured Cyclone 2015