Here is “Soliloquy of Tweeting,” by Isabella Ciambotti, another piece from Crossroads III! If you’ve ever questioned your loyalty to Twitter, and especially if you haven’t, this is a poem you must read. Enjoy! And thank you, Isabella!
Soliloquy of Tweeting
Isabella Ciambotti
To tweet or not to tweet: that is the question,
To yield beneath the blue bird’s siren tune,
that cloying song of self promotion.
Who wouldn’t wish to flaunt their life to all?
Subtly that tune sneaks inside my brain,
Soon embedded, it’s irresistible.
My pulse rises to think about the thrill,
the high of the display; both to be adored
and to beg for approval. The thirst,
the itch, the need for recognition burns
until the throbbing of my heart beats with
the buzzing of my phone. How can I refuse?
My life sits pristine, condensed onto the screen,
I succeed where I never could before.
My wit! My charm! I shine on twitter’s stage,
each tweet contrived for all to admire.
It is my world, where I can shape my life at will.
Until I can’t. All of my devotion
transformed my life into something unknown,
no more my own; I’ve given it away
for others to consume chopped, cooked, seasoned
to perfection for their own devouring.
(The special today sir? My self esteem).
The curtain falls. The lights fade, the crowd leaves-
old crumpled programs, used Kleenex remain-
There’s space for all the thoughts I’ve pushed aside
to reappear as cracks in the veneer
too deep for me to still ignore. I wonder
If all the world’s a stage, and twitter’s mine,
Then who receives all the applause?
Just me behind a polished mask, or
someone else entirely?