Screen Lockdown

the tv glows in the dark like a fluorescent being,

ready to spew out amazing feats and stunts

yet also crawl through the muck of humanity,

a way to lose yourself against the tide.

it all started with one show you needed to watch

every week at 7 PM on the dot, like clockwork,

and you would neglect anything and everything

just to tune in and see what would happen next.

dirty dishes piled up in the sink, neglected, while

your laundry basket became a tower of clothes

and you even forgot to feed the cat (only once)

because you just had to keep up with the show.

but one show never stays as an only—just one

in a string of many to come, all the genres mixing

as you scroll through the latest streaming list,

movies and miniseries calling like sirens.

it is only on the day when you look in the mirror

that you see the dark circles, the wan face,

and wonder how you reached this point,

so far from an enlightened state of being.

obsession drained you and made you

just another puppet, a sheep, to be led

along by the allure of “what next?”—

a downfall we all know too well.

but behind every story waits another,

always, in this world of consumers

whose demand keeps the cycle going,

all for the cash to roll in by the droves.

you? you are expendable, replaceable,

in a grand scheme of entertainment

made fast, easy, simple, streamlined—

but most days you don’t even know it.

still, you watch the weekly episodes,

glued to something beyond yourself,

and it feels a bit like love in a way,

especially in the way you are infatuated.

you don’t see yourself to be pitied

or ostracized or judged or maligned,

but the problem ticks inside you,

symptoms that need addressing.