deception

we were tricked

i miss when women were a mystery
you’d have to use your imagination
many of ours dies by age 25
typically we’ve succumbed to the fears 
instilled in us by society
no meditation, no sobriety
we’re addicted to more than just caffeine
anotha hit of this vape
maybe my lungs won’t collapse

we set social media limits
but we keep hitting that 
“ignore the limit” button
our screen time trends like the stock market
inflated.
inflationary pressures
vulnerable pleasures
pulled by levers from the real puppeteers
downloading fanduel again, i hope this parlay hits
rent due onda first 
i hope i’m not just a one hit … wonder
depression, addiction, 
suicide and literacy rates
all head inda wrong directions

our attention spans
aren’t long enough for real art
or real change
so they feed us 
constant headlines and clickbait
the incentives of this society are more
more content, more censorship, 
more capitalism, and less consent 
but they tell us to post consistently
they even tell us how to use their algorithms
not disclosing 
that the product was always you
that the product for sale was always me

an ode to the internet cafe days
where we posted the small details 
like our coffee mugs on instagram timelines
and argued with our friends in the comments sections
oovoo was our zoom
way before the smartphone boom
shortly followed by the rise in ai 
and eventually our doom
so i welcome you to da poets room