digital opium | Teen Ink

digital opium

June 22, 2023
By wallfleur BRONZE, Mountain View, California
wallfleur BRONZE, Mountain View, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

I RISE WITH the sun. Rays of light slip through closed blinds, caressing my cheek in a warm kiss. I ignore it in favor of blue light flashing from my phone, artificially red numbers urging me to click. I open the app. Someone liked my post. I swipe, scroll, swipe, scroll; where the last hour went, I don't know. I walk unsteadily towards the bathroom. Dull eyes stare back at me in the mirror. What is it about them that gets them so many followers? Pale, smooth skin; a prettier face; a flat stomach? I apply expensive makeup softened by asbestos. My kid brother walks in as I finish. What did you do to your face, he asks. It's for social media, I explain. He asks why.


The author's comments:

I wrote this piece to shed light on the dangers of social media and other ways in which modern society more often than not imprisons us in our own minds. I hope you find a piece of you in this poem as I did.


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