Tonight's Poet Corner: Media Addiction

Media Addiction
by Belinda Roddie

Something tells me I ought to
yank the needle out of my arm
before it draws out all my livelihood,
sucking out my soul and leaving my flesh
hanging from my bones like a white flag
pitifully waving a sad surrender. But

the screen is intoxicating, and the drug
it offers is one that causes panic, tremors,
tears, and anger. Reality is hard to swallow
already, so the dispersal of rage gives it
a kick I desperately need to get through
one more fatalistic day. Once my fingers

start flying across the keyboard, I feel free
for only a handful of minutes before Time
Herself shushes me and brings me a kiss
that leaves my lips dry like corn husks
on a hot, Iowan summer day. I would do
anything to shut off the wi-fi and ignore

the tyranny unfolding in front of me
like bad origami, but the taste
of information is too savory
for me to resist, and the news just

keeps coming in, and I know
one day these voices may be distorted,
or never be heard from again as their
stories disappear from my vision. And the
wooden dominoes keep tumbling down, and
I just keep falling falling falling falling falling
falling falling falling falling falling falling
falling falling