By Erica Gerald Mason
On Sunday night I began to read news on my phone,
after an afternoon spent fighting a chest cold
and watching old episodes of
new television shows.
I scanned three headlines with escalating
alarm and concern,
turned the phone off, and returned to the glow
of the larger screen.
Blinking away outrage like a hangover,
I closed my eyes to the world,
as information slipped under my skin.
I turned the phone back on and sought
dear friends at the familiar campsites
of profile pages and news feeds.
Her dog slept in the sun.
He had tacos for lunch.
She said Positive Vibes Only.
He said he never discusses politics.
Am I crazy? I thought.
I typed words of resistance.
But the right ones wouldn’t visit my mind.
Wouldn’t dance across my skin.
I sat in silent frustration for five minutes, ten.
Then:
All of this won’t happen if we don’t let it – I wrote.
I felt Sunday slipping away
as Monday waited outside my door. No more words came.
I turned off the light, placed the phone on the nightstand and
made myself as comfortable as possible in the dark.
Said goodnight and goodbye to
familiar campsites.
I closed my eyes and began to sleep
but I knew I wouldn’t again for a very long time.
Erica Gerald Mason is an author, poet, and speaker living in Acworth, Georgia. Erica writes about creativity, happiness, love, feminism, pop culture and current events. Her work appears in several publications and journals, and she was a featured poet in the 2016 and 2017 Sundance Film Festival Indie Lounge. Her book of poetry, I Am A Telescope: Science Love Poems is available on Kindle and paperback on Amazon. Find her blog and poetry at www.ericageraldmason.com.
Photo credit: Chetan Sarva via a Creative Commons license.
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