We’re saying so much but meaning so little,
Phone screens and egos so fragile and brittle.

Apparently, the Nazis are ‘defending free speech’
And the crowds yell, scream: Impeach Him, Impeach!

Facebook cures all ills,
Philosopher's use characters not quills.

You don’t need pen to paper for us to know that you hate her,
No voice pitch needed to call her a *****.

How many words does it take to ruin a life?
Trump once did it in eight,
While Boris perpetuated hate,
Witch Hunt! Fake news! Trouble and strife.

Do I like this or just agree?
This perfect world prepared for all to see.

A world ripped apart by quarrelling leaders of ‘great’ nations.
Are we destroyed by too much or too little communication?

That of you inside my ears
Was hard to hear, but ever-clear.

That of you 'come out the mouth,
Was easy-heard, then brought more doubt.

Please, do not ask me
if I am okay.
I do not want to
add that lie to all
the reasons I had
to die.


-
by Aleksander Mielnikow | Alek the Poet

I hear you talk,
I see your lips moving.
The shape of your mouth forming letters after letters.

I smile and agree.
Eyes crinkle with mirth,
My voice booms in the space between us and the silence of the universe.

I see you,
I hear you,
But do I really?

I'm there, but I'm not.
I feel, but I don't.
I smile, when I feel pain
And I talk when I'm not sure what to say.

It's not me you're talking to,
But my body responding to you,
Like an autopilot.

It is a tumor, a cancer, spreading within
It leads me to stop and quickly give in.
It is a fear, a fight, an attack without sin
It is a tumor, a cancer, waiting to begin

It is an insect, a bug, eating my skin
It gnaws, chews and swallows again.
It is a hornet, a thorn, a venom akin.
It is an insect, a bug, drinking me in.

It is a shriek, a scream, yelling herein
It wails, bellows a terrible shrill din
It is a banshee, a siren, a death grin
It is a shriek, a scream, breaking me in.

I thought I was in control.
I promised myself that it wouldn’t happen again,
And it was going so well, it really was.
But things appear to have fallen through.

I tried, you know, I really did,
But it’s like a darkness consumes me,
A howling tempest grips my chest,
And no matter how hard I struggle,
I just cannot break free.

My mind tells one story,
My mouth expresses another.
Words that are not my own form,
And all that remains are regrets.

Emotions soak up my vocabulary
With their spongy fibers,
Porous and clinging to my syllables
As if they were not mine to possess in the first place.
Feelings are like dragons,
Hoarding my words like gold.
I am hyper-verbal and hyper-lexic,
So many sentiments and letters to call upon,
But they are always out of order when
I want to tell you "I Love You!"
I say, "Please let me know you got home safe,"
Instead.