Unfollowed

Unfollowed

I used to scroll like it was prayer,

A ritual of glass and glare

Eyes glued to filtered smiles and thighs,

Chasing beauty that wore a disguise.

They told me thinner, richer, more,

My worth was found in hearts and score.

A dopamine hit with every like,

But still, I cried alone each night.

I followed dreams that weren't my own,

Watched strangers turn their pain to gold.

I starved myself on curated feeds,

Mistaking trends for human needs.

I swallowed filters, edits, lies,

Believed perfection's plastic highs.

Compared my scars to pixel skin,

As if my soul was built to thin.

But one cold morning, phone in hand,

My chest collapsed like shifting sand.

A whisper rose from somewhere deep

"Unfollow all that makes you weep."

So I did.

Unfollowed her, with a perfect waist.

Unfollowed him, all gym and grace.

Unfollowed shame. Unfollowed fear.

Unfollowed every whispered sneer.

I followed books and fields and skies,

Real laughter is not compressed in size.

Followed silence, morning light,

The crickets are singing through the night.

I followed hunger, not to shrink,

But for the art, the page, the ink.

I followed breath. I followed peace.

And felt a weight begin to cease.

No longer wrapped in cyber chains,

I broke the spell, released the reins.

I followed the voice I’d drowned.

And finally, I feel unbound.