Are You An Internet Addict? (Poetry Reading)
This is a companion piece to a video poem I posted, just a few days ago: Living Behind a Computer Screen reflecting on the various degrees of internet addiction that we seem to live with, nowadays:
drastic, plastic deity
in Electricity we trust
monitor our thoughts
save our lives
delete the hurt
start, again
online-lifeline
wired nerves
armchair travelers
pass the world by
ten impatient digits
frantic search engines
ravaged by a savage
boredom
world at your fingertips
(world is not enough)
brimming with longing
playing on unmusical keys
keys that open doors
to virtually Nowhere
virtual relations
virtual destinations
Real Time
crash on information highways
get lost in cyber space
caught in world wide web
mouse scurrying
dancing in place
Life is one click away
click click click, again.
© Yahia Lababidi
(Image: Pixabay, by Alexas_Fotos)
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This was well done.
Not much on reading poetry but I could not resist the dead guy on the computer in your graphic.. Glad I got sucked into your bandwidth vortex.
Found this post on @jerrybanfield's #resteem-request discord channel.
Hey, that’s a very cool response, man, thank you!
I hope my words continue to keep you good company — I don’t only post poetry 🤓 And, thank you, @Jerrybanfield, for putting people together. ✌🏼
It's an addiction that grows by the day, one that's ever-harder to shake.
Well I guess its like all addictions; with life being better with it, unable to imagine life without it.
The problem with the internet is its just so damn interesting! How do you get people to not get attached to something that can bring before their eyes virtually anything they desire?
akin to a Pandora's box, once you've opened up and delved into the internet, experienced that endless entertainment, there is no going back to those days of "boredom".
"ravaged by a savage
boredom"
All good points & questions... Yet, there is a subtle, insidious boredom that accompanies this Pandora’s box.
Especially, in regards to the social media aspect of it. While it might make us feel less alone, if communication is inauthentic, we find we are left feeling more lonely.
Likewise, as human animals, we belong to the natural world and must connect/commune with it. There is no online substitute for divorcing ourselves from Nature.
And, don’t get me started about the ills of online sex, where the giving… famishes the taker (Harold Bloom).
If we keep clearsighted about the false promises of the virtual life, we are less susceptible to its many seductions...
It is far easier to encounter that inauthentic communication online, and it's something that leaves you vaguely unfulfilled. A gradual hollow feeling building deep inside, a pit built up with doubts and insecurities and left to fester.
Our connection to the natural world is a vital aspect to us, one that many sadly disregard. "shinrin-yoku" or "Forest Bathing" as the Japanese call it is a great practice. Not necessarily setting out to accomplish or hike anywhere, but to just soak in the natural environment.
I often find a meandering exploration of a forest (barefoot if possible) does wonders to soothe an overworked and overstressed mind.
nice poem, real life issues.
Thanks, for listening, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Whether online or off, we drag our glory and slime, wherever we go — always negotiating the parameters of our Freedom 🙏🏼
I think many here could relate to the feelings this piece invokes. It reminds me of many late nights behind a keyboard, not even knowing what I am searching for anymore. Just doing anything to avoid the fact that when I go to bed I am not going to be able to sleep. Well done, my friend. Another good piece.
Thanks, for sharing your thoughts. This struck me: ‘late nights... not even knowing what I’m searching for anymore...’.
I, too, admit to having used the net as sleeping pill and/or to ward off anxiety, hoping it will tire me out so I collapse into sleep.
But, of course, there is no escaping ourselves—somehow or other, we must put aside all these tricks/ruses and confront it 👀
Please reply to this comment if you accept or decline.
I’m very happy that this caught your eye, @muxxybot and, of course, I accept—gladly 🤗
So damn true words..!
Everything is virtual with having a fake-type appeal in it..!!!
not much true, not much dependable..! 😊
~Tennis Girl 🎾🎾
Well, we are connecting through the virtual... so, there’s some good there. The challenge, of course, (as with all else) is finding that elusive balance 👀