Poetry: A Tendency to Wear Hearts on Sleeves

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I log into the network of my self-esteem,

To see the hearts and the wows and the laughs flooding in.

A simple 'like' wouldn’t cut it anymore

‘Likes’ were so 2010, even 2010 was bored. 

‘Cause that’s the zeitgeist of the age, you see,

A tendency to wear hearts on sleeves.

Loves and kisses are a dime a dozen,

With a million friends and followers double.

National debates and social justice petitions,

Real crises, distorted renditions.

High definition photos of disaster zones

Flash up against cat videos on every smart phone.

Snapchat filters do not lie,

Just tell a story of hours gone by;

Selecting the perfect background, the ideal shade

To express love on the dozen’th date. 

But that’s the zeitgeist of the century,

A tendency to wear hearts on sleeves.

To document in minute detail, with extensive pictorial evidence

Clockwork days of humdrum nonchalance. 

And perhaps the generation that came before

Would call it vanity, vainglory, or something more.

But it ain’t like they were without their sins,

We didn’t invent tabloid columnists. 

And now that we are at the end,

Let me sign off with this request:

Like, comment, and share your love

Let your heart fall out of your shirt cuff.

The Poetry Post #4

Festivity

The festive season has begun
Time for fireworks, feasts and fun;
Relatives and friends come calling home,
Lights and colours, the walls adorn.

Florid wallpapers, the widening cracks disguise,
Dendrite mends the leaking pipes.

Prismatic lamps illumine dreary halls,
Ornate dresses and cashmere shawls;
And if the ripped petticoat within, be seen,
‘The delicate fabric caught the jewelled pin’.

Silver ornaments painted gold,
Bought last month, when the bed was sold.

Treats and sweets, the dinner table overwhelm,
Enticing flavours inhaled with every breath;
Delicacies compete to catch the eye,
Where nothing had been but bread and rye.

Euphoric laughter heralds despairing cries,
Festive splendour, broken homes disguise.

Fatal Addiction

Virtual worlds of perfect lives,
Pouting lips and charcoal eyes,
Photos ‘shared’ and status ‘liked’
He says ‘what’s up’, she says ‘hi’.

Unnoticed, ignored, a wisp of smoke,
Blows in through cracks in the bolted door
Meanwhile, in the background, the first sparks fly,
The woodwork singes, the curtains ignite.

And yet, within the world of dreams,
When happiness is uploaded, all troubles flee;
Smiles and tears, technicolour faces convey,
And charming strangers whisk all troubles away.

Outside the windows, sirens blare,
Cries reverberate, all in a scare;
The sunset hues of lives ablaze,
Tear through the walls, all barriers raze.

All else fades out, when the chat-box beeps,
Dark fumes all round, it’s too late to scream;
With the last breath snuffed out, and vision dimmed,
‘I luv u too’ blinks on the dying screen...