Screen Lockdown

Poetry

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,