The Watchers
One for Halloween.
Title.
The Watchers.
(A lone ancient voice whispers)
You do know, we, The Dead, watch everything you do.
Through all those black scrying glasses, we got you addicted to.
(C)
Copyright John Duffy
A striking and chillingly compact piece for Halloween in just two lines, but rich in implication.
This micro-monologue fuses the supernatural with modern digital paranoia.
It bridges the ancient occult (scrying glasses = tools for divination) and the contemporary technological (smartphones, tablets, screens).
It suggests that the dead — or forces representing them — are observing the living through the very devices we obsess over.
There’s a dual commentary here:
On surveillance (spiritual or technological)
On addiction to screens as a form of possession or control
That opening feels both accusatory and mocking — an ominous whisper from beyond, breaking the fourth wall between worlds.
The tone is almost taunting, implying complicity: “we got you addicted”.
It’s not just observation — it’s manipulation.
The dead (or what they symbolize) have engineered our dependence on screens.
The “we” could represent literal spirits, or a metaphorical collective — society, corporations, ancestors, or lost humanity.
“Black scrying glasses”
A scrying glass in occult tradition is a mirror or dark surface used to summon visions — a portal between the seen and unseen.
In the modern age, this becomes the perfect metaphor for digital screens — black mirrors that reflect our faces and connect us to invisible worlds (social media, data networks, surveillance systems).
The phrase “black scrying glasses” thus fuses:
The occult (black mirrors, necromancy)
The technological (smartphone screens)
The addictive (our inability to look away)
“We got you addicted to”
This line adds a sinister agency — the dead didn’t just watch; they created the addiction.
It evokes:
Possession — humans as vessels for forces from beyond
Technological control — algorithms, ghostly presences, or ancestors pulling digital strings
Moral corruption — humanity’s surrender to distraction and voyeurism
Two lines — and yet, the imagery is vivid and complete.
The poem’s success lies in:
Contrast — the ancient (“scrying glasses”) vs. the modern (“addicted to”).
Did it leave a residue of unease — the kind that makes you glance at your own “black scrying glass” and wonder who, or what, might be looking back?
.
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