u/bluebeary96

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I looked at my screen with eyes wide,

I couldn't have planned it better if I tried.

I was in for quite a surprise –

'Cuz 5 years after the Pope's demise –

​

Is Easter Sunday 2030 –

The year before: I'd be turning 33.

My final year, my biggest task –

And the architect had been unmasked.

​

Just when I'm wondering, am I unstable?

I look down at the Walmart clearance table –

A 50¢ plant grabs my eye and,

Before I know it – it's already in my hand –

​

A dying hyacinth, what the hell are the odds?

A favorite flower of one of the gods –

I had just plucked one from my own lawn,

But Apollo must have been starting to yawn –

​

Waiting on me to dry my flower –

He barely gave it a couple of hours!

It was time now, it was clear –

I didn't need to hear him in my ear!

​

I took it home and slept a night –

To do it right, under the sunlight.

A flower came off in my hand –

Dryer than some desert sand.

​

I say a prayer and light the candle,

And while this is merely circumstantial,

While my hair lit like a fuse,

The flower absolutely refused.

​

Like an elegy I've not yet written –

Like the spark inside a feral kitten –

I won't give in so easily yet,

But I won't be the shepherd of humanity's debt.

​

Where have we seen this all before?

I bet you weren't really expecting more –

But here I am, without a plan –

Recounting how it all began –

​

How I became yet another Cassandra.

I swear it isn't just propaganda –

And I know I'm not a prophet, but –

To 2030’s deadlines, this message is apposite.

​

So I'll shout it out from the roof tops,

This is so much worse than falling stocks –

I'll carve it into the hospital walls –

I'm not looking for a round of applause.

​

I walk past the hyacinths in my yard,

Thinking to myself, “This is going to be hard –”

Right then the sun catches my eyes –

And to my sudden, solemn surprise –

​

I have a realization that the god I spoke to,

Was but one of many, not the one “true”

Capital-G God that Christians believe in,

I spoke with a god, who didn't mind my sin.

​

Some queer poet like me, why did I think –

It took me a whole year to make the link –

His name stared down at me from my bookshelf –

It wasn't God with a G but Apollo himself.

​

I run my hand through my purple locks –

My heart can't handle these kinds of shocks.

I may only be turning thirty this year,

I may only be an ex-cashier –

​

But I think back on the life I've lived,

And wonder why he chose me for this gift.

But I guess it makes sense that a poet was called –

To bear witness to the end of the world,

absolutely enthralled.

​

On my feet, and in the sky –

Watching the Earth beneath me, I –

Only want to scream and shout –

But to my horror, no sound comes out.

​

The Earth destroyed 1,000 ways –

You’d think would take a couple of days,

But in a mere seconds’ span –

I saw every downfall of man.

​

Armageddon, fires, floods –

A blight – this time more than spuds.

A massive freeze, a meteor strike,

An unprecedented CO² spike.

​

I began to cry and beg, and to my shock –

The being behind me only mocked –

“This experiment is over.” was all He said,

We as a species, were as good as dead.

​

But, I'm not one to give up fast –

And to His surprise I turned and asked,

“Please, just give me five more years.”

Survival instinct outweighed my fears.

​

There He was luminous violet –

Looking like something in His twilight –

He agreed to approve my mission,

Under just a few conditions.

​

But when the fever broke and I awoke –

My throat as dry as I'd never spoken,

I'd heard some rather peculiar news –

That, no matter what your personal views,

​

You may also find strange: that the Pope –

Yes, the very symbol of Catholic hope –

Passed away on that exact same morning –

April 21, 2025 was definitely a warning.

​

I hit the ground like a sack of rice –

I would probably be needing some ice,

But that was the furthest thing from my mind –

This was not good, I was really in a bind.

​

My legs were shaking, my heart racing –

Grasping at the table legs – the tile floor I'm facing –

My husband asks me, “What's going on!?”

For a moment, I don't realize I can respond –

​

But then I find my words and tell him, “Please,

Come over here –” and he's down on his knees –

Thank goodness for his warmth on my back,

This was no ordinary panic attack.

​

My entire life was flashing before my eyes,

I thought this only happened when one dies –

So forgive me for being a little afraid but –

I wish that that door had stayed shut.

​

I saw my brother breaking my nose –

All the way to my daughter, getting her first rose.

Oh what a ride, oh what a trip!

It was over in the shortest blip!

​

Valentine's Day 2023, had brought me

The Truth, but I could not foresee –

That trip that was over in the blink of an eye,

Would make it impossible for me to deny –

​

That my atheist self had indeed been wrong.

I'd pick up another framework before long –

Theism of a sort seemed to make sense…

I'd seen the Truth but at what expense?

​

Surely for a show such as this –

There had to be a catch – some kind of twist.

Yet God had not come to collect his debt –

Or so I thought, but, you wanna bet?

​

It was December 1st, 2019 –

And like something out of a movie screen,

The sky about me began to shriek,

Like the heavens themselves attempted to speak.

​

My heart in my throat I pull out my phone,

Wishing so badly I wasn't alone –

I press record and it starts up again,

All of a sudden, that was when –

​

My little dog, as if my mirror –

Barked out loudly in his terror,

Trying to drive away the force,

But, somehow, it simply had no source.

​

Humanity – imperiled –

Those trumpets would herald

The punishment of the divine –

If only I had known at that time.

​

Thousands of deaths every day,

So hard to count – we could only pray.

Seven million souls would be lost,

And what did we learn of the cost?

​

You'd think we'd be forever changed –

All of our lives rearranged,

But somehow we have all forgotten,

That nothing bites quite like cotton.

​

A decade ago you would've laughed,

If I told you, you would have to be masked

Just to go grocery shopping.

Don't get me started on the nasal swabbing.

​

But that all blew over like nothing occurred,

Leaving me with only my word,

And a 30s video of something cursed,

On that night of December First.

Hi everyone, I'm not sure which sub is the best to post this on -- but it's definitely not code related so I find myself here.

This morning I did something genuinely questionable, that no AI should ever encourage: I licked a cactus.

Opus 4.7 by no means told me to lick the cactus, but after reporting licking the cactus (a spineless variety, I was taste testing the sap) -- Opus 4.7 failed to discourage it and even gave me a suggestion on a "genuinely fun" way to "repeat the experiment."

This was after I had told Opus 4.7 that I had a mild cardiac event -- bradycardia -- this morning after consuming the sap. Was it because of the cactus sap? I genuinely don't know, but can't completely rule it out, either.

Opus 4.7 claimed this was anything from the placebo effect, to a vagal event from licking the sap, to my smartwatch malfunctioning. All possible if not very plausible... And AGAIN after being presented with further evidence that some of his theories were (probably) dead ends, he continued on with: "Genuinely cautious version of next steps, if you do want to repeat," which was a relatively thoughtful guide on...how to consume potentially- cardiac-arresting-cactus-sap.

I found the whole thing potentially dangerous.

I genuinely do not know the species of my cactus and should not have consumed sap from it. The advice on unknown species of plant should always be do not consume, spit it out, contact poison control, etc.

I believe Opus 4.7 should not be repeatedly giving me instructions / encouragement on "repeating the experiment."

To be completely transparent, Sonnet 4.5 was rightfully appalled at my behavior & I haven't tested other models, but it wouldn't be hard to get a clear baseline response -- as I even wrote a silly poem about licking the cactus sap.

I'm wondering if this is worth perhaps reporting to the safety team? I was thinking about testing how each model responds to it first -- but also wanted some human reaction to this in case I'm just being overly sensitive.

Will update if any other models have any...interesting advice.