Swipe right,
Swipe left,
Left, right, left,
Keep marching,
Forward!
Left, right, left!
Ew!
Just… No!
Hard pass!
Swipe right,
It’s a match!
WTF?
WTF! No thanks!
But, maybe…
💦👅?
🍑🍆👉👌?
Left,
Left,
Left, right, left,
Left alone,
Swipe left,
Swipe right,
Hmm, she looks cute,
Swipe right,
Swipe left,
Ooooh!
We like the same band!
She seems right!
Swipe right!
A pesky little inner voice
Echoed from the past,
Kept pointing its fingers
To the cracks of a heart,
Leaking toxic fumes of
Loneliness, Desperation,
Self hatred from the cavity
Where self-esteem
Should have been…
But also subtle hint of love,
A willingness to connect,
A yearning for a touch…
“Your text is too long!”
“You’ve shown too much interest!”
“You’re not showing enough interest!”
“You’re texting too little!”
“You’re texting too fast!”
“Don’t be so emotional!”
“You seem so aloof!”
“You’ll never be enough!”
“They have more options!”
“Look at yourself, idiot!”
“You’ve got no job!”
“No career to speak of !”
“Artist? Writer?”
“Oh, you mean unemployed?”
“LOL”
“You got a car?”
“A house?”
“You’re not fit enough!”
“Why so insecure?”
“Be confident!”
“Confidence is sexy!”
“Fake it till you make it!”
“But be honest. Nobody likes liars!”
As my tired heart
Yearns to sleep and rest,
It jumps up a bit
In a suppressed little joy,
As it heard all of a sudden –
Ding!
It’s a match!
Cautious bubbles of
Warm fuzzy feelings
Crawled up my stomach
Towards my heart,
And beyond…
But they froze in my throat.
Coldness swept through my body
The moment I became
An undesired spectral object,
An unwanted wraith,
Ghosted once more…
Image credit: Feature image generated with DALL·E using a prompt based on this poem and its themes.
If this piece resonates with you and you’re a visual artist, I’d love to feature your own soul-crafted work in place of the AI image.
