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
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.
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.!
my grandchildren are all over tic toc
posting videos of themselves being provocative
it makes me cringe but I cannot stop them
why their parents do not, is a wonder to me
I post photos of my garden and my artwork on Facebook
because many people like to see what I am up to
I do not put photos of my grandchildren on there
My children are I.T.’s and have asked me not to.
Apparently, some trolls capture photos of children
And do strange things with them, which is a travesty.
I like social media because it helps me keep in touch
I would never know what my family was doing without it.
I must have lost my friends,
I should not have clicked "send",
I meant to email you instead
My mind was half asleep,
I called them lazy sheep,
now they cut me dead.
I don’t know what it was,
Maybe just because
The mailing list starts with "A"
Now I'm so uptight
I stared at that screen all night
The screen that led me astray
(chorus)
There is no hack
That can take it back,
No magic “undo” key.
Friends may be sheep,
But the cost was steep,
When the truth-teller was me.
(bridge)
Next time I’ll pause and breathe,
Count to ten before bytes leave.
Read it twice before I click.
Because now I feel sick,
I jumped backwards off the crag,
The cats escaped out of the bag.
In social effigy I hang
No sense of humor in that gang
I've become a hermit living in caves
A wild eyed maniac who rants and raves
I still feel the hurt, still feel the pang.
When I hit that key, and the first phone rang.
You know why dogs are so happy?
They don’t spend their days
Scrolling social media.
(12/1/25)
Social Media;
Perfecting Hysteria.
Push button Reply;
Gas lightight the why.
Sticks and stones...
Blood and bones...
Reds and blues...
Roaring 'Boos'...
Silence begets silence;
Speech yields violence,
Passion to fight,
Stomping the blight.
Stuck in motion;
Ignoring all notion.
Frantically turning;
All paths churning.
Ground faulting;
Conscience halting.
Lies swirling;
Truth curling.
Confusion surrounds;
Chaos abounds.
Champion humility;
End the futility.
Plug the ears;
Muzzle the fears.
Pause the trigger;
Quell the vigor.
Close the eyes;
Unveil the guise
Force the thought;
Lest be bought.
Illusion of Practical Thinking
Some fake intellectuals mock books by saying that books won’t help in practical life.
But on the other hand, they decrease their brain’s capacity through social media.
Practical thinking is not bad,
but it is an illusion created by social media and video games —
they don’t sharpen the mind;
they blunt it.
And they make our lives worse.
Those who don’t believe this can compare their brain’s efficiency
after reading books
and after scrolling social media
for themselves.
Hashtags.
Used to promote to get more attraction to a desired cause
To create a movement , to even open doors
But - like most things it has its flaws
Used to manipulate for narrative control
Stories of real life trauma
Plastered on social media
To be auctioned of and sold
To the highest bidder- usually a politician
Their favourites, those that contain stories of racism
Not because they care
But for emotional manipulation
Used to make them look like a 'diverse hero'
Claiming to love everyone
Yet create policies for a mandatory stop and patrol
'Coincidentally' in only black neighbourhoods
Most hashtags aren't even harmful
If used for the greater good, it can be very useful
A way for slogans to become a movement
One example - #blacklivesmatter
To boost, to help go viral
To become a worldwide sensation
After all you can never have enough people
To tackle this centuries long issue
Yet human nature makes people resentful
When they aren't the centre of attention - when they aren't popular
Usually the oppressors, they can't stand feeling inferior
They'll twist a cause to suit their reputation
After all what's a campaign without deception
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