Written by Travis Knight
photo generated by DeepAI
Stay the fuck off the internet,
off of social media,
off of online dating,
off of likes and loves,
off of moments mended by filters,
and AI facials.
But it’s impossible.
Once you start fumbling down the feed,
you can’t look away,
or you won’t,
but you can’t.
Ignore the message from the female
who is looking for a long-term relationship,
open to having kids,
likes hiking,
a True Crime binger,
a dog mom,
–whatever the fuck that means—
or just a wild flame,
your time together,
as short as the skirt she sheds,
through introductory visuals.
You know,
those good-times-and-nothing-more type times.
But she is as digital as the times upon us.
She’s as empty as a shadow’s shadow,
an enticing enigma, that’s all.
She’s a web weaver weaving,
a web of what seems,
but what isn’t.
So judge me,
judge me all you like.
I am also human.
My heart is not exempt from today’s social love storm.
I bleed hope, too,
while hope bleeds me dry.
Authenticity is archaic
and kindness is stupidity’s closest relative.
I’ve learned this thus far.
But when midnight creeps up,
from behind a bush basked in thorns,
holding in its hand
a dagger gleaming under moon touched overcast,
you’ll find me on the corner,
at Safeway crossroads,
or under the bleached lights,
of a 7/11, anywhere, at 7 minutes till 11.
Or 11 minutes to 7.
You’ll find me wandering in the shadows,
or alleyways,
or in and out of last calls,
and last chances.
Always alone I am,
surrounded by night walkers,
just like me.
Judge me all you like,
social scum,
media meanderers,
Judge me for bleeding on the concrete,
pools of the stuff on the sidewalk,
unlike the illusionary puddle,
coagulating in pixels
that may or may not be,
secreting behind a screen.
Judge me all you like.
But when I meet the devil,
I meet her in the flesh.
So,
Stay the fuck off the internet,
Off of social media,
Off of online dating,
Off of likes and loves,
Off of moments mended by filters,
and AI facials.
Stay away, I say…
Yet,
here I am.