Digital Humans

We live somewhere between 
Shattered hopes and broken dreams
"One days" ripped at the seams.
By the onslaught of digital opinions
Defacing hopes as pathetic tropes 
Reminding you of your lack of originality 
“Someday” seems like it up and left
Those dreams bereft of sustenance.
When #thatgirl did it 'like' forty times already
That future reverie now suddenly seems unsteady.

Nightmares trapped
in a daydream's clothing
A mellow glowing
non-reality that seemed so soothing
Until the screams start booming
Ringing in your head like Quasimodo's bells
Each scream vibrates with loaded
trolling commentary
Reminding you of
Failures, losses, being broken
All those things you wanted left unspoken

Those faceless voices
start controlling you
Until you lose yourself completely
Nothing left but
the skin of what you used to be.
Just a soulless, hopeless profile picture
Of what you want them to see.
Just skin and empty eyes and tragedy.
Lost in harsh reality

We live on fragments of choppy memories,
digitally remastered stories,
and long lost glories
of a time some other us used to live.
We die crossing ravenous waters
Crashing Waves
of insecurity, humility, morality.
Staying afloat on a boat built from HTML coding

The weak’s only defense
Against their own fading human mind
Is to find someone else to make weaker
Building strength with digital jousting
Shots fired with each ping
Every notification
a violation of privacy, decency, humanity
Worth dictated by
Double taps and profile likes won
Instead of good deeds done
Words holding more weight
Than action can negotiate.

The rest of us
Unable to wage the war
Against our fading minds
And cyber expectations
Just hold on
To those shattered dreams
And broken hopes
Before we choke
On our total lack of electronic existence
And resistance to being seen
as nothing more
Than a shell of skin
And memories of days we used to live in
Held in time by a post
half lived, half lost
Behind the frosted tint of lenses