A like

A critique of social media which has fostered an environment of manufactured ideals and unattainable yardsticks.

Pose

pause.

Adjust one’s hair, tilt one’s head, re-angle.

Snap

stare.

The internal monologue voices harsh critique,

denounce

delete.

Pose, pause, adjust, snap, stare. 

Denounce, delete. A cycle on repeat.

Time rapidly eclipsing in a bid to capture a fictitious ideal…

all for a like.

Cropping

contrasting.

Tweak the background, modify the flaws, enhance.

Sharpening

shadowing.

The blemishes carrying hidden beauty brushed over,

fixing

filtering.

Vista, Vogue, Sienna, Moon, Mayfair.

Polish, perfect. A manufacturing of effect.

The picture is distorting at the touch of a slider…

all for a like.

Caption,

crow.

Add location, tag one's friends, flaunt.

Bluff,

bluster.

The beautified image needs glamorised prose,

hyperbolise,

hashtag.

#follow, #fun, #tbt #style, #swag.

Exult, exclaim. A yearning of fame.

A meticulously crafted moment published…

all for a like.

But the tale of the viewer is no formula,

its an inner, insta-ntaneous phenomena.

For every manicured shot espied,

anxiety and inadequacy brew inside.

But before you compare 

remember

reflect:

reality, charade:

#alike.

Author's Note

This is my first poem so any advice and feedback would be gratefully received.