The Unending Cycle

- A Poem -

Horrifying stories circulate

the web, keywords regurgitate, snatching

us by the neck. Gut-wrenching videos of lifeless

bodies, graphic images slapped with a partially

torn content warning sticker, despite lacklustre

shielding efforts we feast.

One click, one bite—one double tap to enlarge.

Our insatiable curiosity entices our need to indulge suppressing all fears, leaving us guiltless

motivating the abandoned

closet skeletons to long for their escape welcoming

the backlash as they project our darkened

past— unconsciously empathizing

with the stories that reflect our lives leaving

the ones that don’t to shrivel—

the internal biases tapping away at our conscience,

echoing doubt in the back of our minds— questioning

what we stand for. Saturated posts flood

the gates of social media with meaningless

thoughts and prayers, performative activism possesses

our fingers— scrolling temporarily enslaves

our minds waiting for the next headline

to keep us in momentum.

Refresh—

the next story trends erasing our memory

of the abandoned