Perhaps, once unlocked, one finds
Apps are rooms behind the blinds
Wallpapers comfort the eyes
Echo-chambers respin lies
Trash can always be retrieved
Flashed memories, not believed
More and more, you are alone
You're always home with your phone
From bathroom pipes, kitchen sinks
From inside cabinets, drain and sewer points
The cockroach approaches in a flash of time.
Once sighted, woman gets scared and yelp
A chance for the brave husband to help
And to flaunt his bravery and might.
Seizes the broom sitting at the corner
When the brave man comes with the broom
The sly cockroach is already lost from sight
The brave man hits at every nook and corner
Misses the target, and the mission to kill, fails
Leaves his wife in utter despair and anger.
Finds the pest below the cot and hits it hard
The cockroach struggled but did not die
Broom snaps, pest flees without a trace
Nastiest pest, nocturnal in habit
The insect at its best at night
Rarely surfaces in broad daylight
Finds escape routes to hide from sight.
The insect loves and lives in grime and filth
Ill at ease in open space and broad daylight
Always in hiding and retreating to dark
Pale tan , reddish brown, glossy dark to black
Shades of repulsive colours, gross to look
Notorious for infestations and spreads diseases
Now hogging limelight in media discourse.
can I ask for just a moment
don't want to take up much of your time
you asked how I was doing
I lied and said I'm fine.
thoughts have taken me outside of myspace.
into my Facebook, tick tok banned and erased.
ig stories tend to be staged
then Twitter went an X'd itself out of the page.
I open YouTube music begin floating on icloud.
Google drive my way with passion.
Pandora cruising windows down.
vibe check with a mixtape wins my heart 10 toes down.
Watching.
Staring.
Filming.
But,
Not -
Seeing.
Stopping.
Preventing.
The art of being a bystander -
Is not art, but bloodshed,
It is an act of inhumanity,
To watch Black bodies fall,
The modernised version of lynchings,
Where everyone is complicit -
And no one is innocent
The world’s cruelty knows no bounds,
Where the spectacle of Black death -
Brings people together as one,
From different communities and cultures,
To share the moment - where a Black life is gone
When it comes to the death of a Black person,
The world becomes desensitised to the horrors,
That are done to us -
To them it’s a way to gain followers -
A way to boost their social media platforms
Even videos of animal neglect gets more sympathy,
Their empathy extends only to animals,
But when a Black person is tortured -
For no reason,
The world claims it was our fault
The bystander effect was just an excuse to hide from -
Being held accountable,
Of being complicit - an accessory to murder
BEWARE OF THE BOT
SOCIAL MEDIA GOT LOT
LEAVING US DISTRAUGHT
Sewage spills
On everyone,
Can’t see the forest for the trees
Intent on tearing down
All good things~
Land of make believe!
Maybe we can stop the spill, though
Even soldiers breath their last,
Despite all efforts
It comes for all,
Amen…
It is easier now to peek behind closed doors
the walls are down, stomped into the ground by some
they post what they had for breakfast, supper and lunch
take photographs of themselves sixty times a day
and post fifty-eight of them, it helps us to see
they do not have a life
I admire the people who tried social media for a bit
then realized it is not for them and ran off to live their lives.
The ones who stick around to brag, complain or whine I wonder about.
Do they not have a support group of real people, relatives or friends?
One person I know spends between four to eight hours a day on one
of these social sites.
I cannot imagine spending forty minutes a day here.
It is not that interesting or exciting
certainly dissatisfying compared to meeting friends for lunch
or hosting a Halloween party or washing dishes.
I feel that some of these people have been caught up in
these “imaginary” relationships, allowing real friendships
and relationships die.
They call you mad if you dare act too rough,
then call you weak if you’re not tough enough,
do not care much when we receive good news,
but flock like locusts when someone is screwed.
The claim to hold our leaders to account,
but only one party will they ever denounce.
They interview, claiming truth is their goal,
then cut it up, to smear you and to scold.
They claim that they must go speak with all sides,
but then only reprint a tyrant’s lies,
show endless contempt for their own nation,
yet whine when facing recriminations.
They strut about like they’re some privileged class,
but their high words get debunked rather fast,
say ‘objectivity’ like it’s a shield,
yet preach narratives, rather then what’s real.
Think we should trust only folks with bylines,
when internet proves them wrong every time.
They misinform, those useless, lying hacks,
I wonder if we can bring the stocks back…
Heads pull from the sand
Now thinking they understand
Post on Social media on demand
Things they know nothing about!
DO NOT LIKE YOUR NEWS
BRENDAN CARR SAYS CHANGE YOUR VIEWS
OR LICENSE YOU LOSE
What big smile you have Grandmother.
The better to fool you with my dear.
Big smiles, big hair, breasts and heels
All designed to suck you in.
Hook us good then reel us in
For their Catch of the Day
Served up fresh battered and fried with chips.
And still the distant voices echo,
“Kill ugly radio”, “Kill your television”
To the plugged-in masses
Sharing their memes,
Endlessly scrolling their lives away.
What big teeth you have Grandmother.
Yes, but don’t you worry my child,
They only look so big
Because you are so close.
(3/8/26)
188.
Hail Queen of All Media
Hail Queen of All Media
Fit for horror, comedy & drama
Thou hold the scepter of soap opera
Thou alone our prime idol
Of rich & poor, masses & all
Cape of charisma to you install
Delight of song & dance
Brilliant of head & appearance
Thou don the train of elegance
Thy awesome aura to public a jewelry
It's rigorous to find thee any awry
Thy flawless radiance is a phylactery
Any man to you shall kneel & bow down
Black or white, meztizo or mulatto or skin is brown
They stand with awe before thy precious crown.
-08/08/2012
*My Twilight Poems Collection
I’m all alone
Just me & my phone
Does the internet know?
I hit ‘Enter’ & go
Will the world tell me?
Who should I be?
A million results
A thousand insults
Social media madness
Envy, jealousy & sadness
I just want a ‘Like’
Real life can take a hike
Who’s doing what, where & when
Am I missing something again
Who said what about who
I’ve just blocked you
One last tweet
Someone sweet
Tell me I’m fine
I’m losing my mind
(“Nonbinary”, 2023, original encaustic)
We live in insane times
Which is a world apart
From living in sane times.
Now it pays to live in a bubble of woe
Struggling out in the open for all to see.
The Master Controller thinks it holds the key
Hell bent on bending the arc of reality
To suit its needs;
The need to be right, noticed and accepted
An Ego exalted on the throne
Of its own wretched delusion
But the definition of insanity is clearly
Doing the same thing again and again
Hoping for a different result.
No matter how much it bends
Reality always snaps back.
(2/15/26)
Pushing reason away in the uk..
That we see' is the 'quyeer karma
Way.!
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.