"retweet" poems
Don't let this self-effacing exterior fool you
I am meglo-maniac in the making
Social media the perfect introvert's mask
Reinventing myself daily
Vanessa Ives, girl-about-town, quirky geek
An attention *****
******* in the digital wind
For a like, a follow, a retweet.
Jul 18, 2014
Jul 18, 2014 at 7:24 AM UTC
We friended on Facebook,
Scrolled down our profile pages.
Lived together in a virtual world.
Our images and websites we shared
With Instagram incisiveness.
Meet all my friends.
Block any you do not like.
All busy we are, doing nothing.
Like if you agree.
Laptops were not enough.
Users subscribed to Smartphones,
Iphones, and God knows what.
Google them if you wish.
And if you like my words
Retweet them.
But beware!
I now use words like lol,
And even ***
Hehe.
Sometimes I multitask,
Flicking TV channels
Like a Subbuteo striker –
Gone virtual by now I guess.
Flicking and flipping while I scroll
My laptop page.
I make new tabs
As I message many friends:
Emoticons exploding
All along the way.
I’m Tivo-boxing clever
All the time,
King of my domain.
So get your VDU lit up
And monitor my words.
Download my thoughts
Into your memory banks.
I hope this all computes.
Paul Butters
Feb 5, 2015
Feb 5, 2015 at 4:10 PM UTC
I'm No born free
I tasted the dust of apartheid
My mother was hiding behind the trees screaming for help
No one was there
No time to sleep
We were cursed for struggle
My father never smiled when my mother would say "the baby is kicking"
Cause he knew,it wasn't the kick of joy
It wasn't a sign of being a soccer star
It was the struggle!
1990 Mandela was out of prison
1993 I was born
1994 the Dom's were free
No more Dom-pass,but not uhuru still
Innocent souls were lost
What was the fighting worth for?
I can forgive but never forget
When De klert called black fools
He said they do nothing but barking
We turned to dogs now
This is for Steve Biko
Chris Hani
Hector Paterson
Raymond mhlaba
Let not my skin define who I am
Let not the earth describe me
I know my future because of my history
I was raised in a town of fallen angels
Where blacks were deceived
Whites felt free
Turn the lights off we all the same colour
Don't turn them on
I want my son to know the history
But to not repeat it.
They say follow your leader
How can you follow corruption?
Zuma this zuma that
Its all illusion
I'll only follow u twitter
I want you to retweet all the ish I'll be posting about you,the Raping,The Nkandla part,The Cheating,The Art and the bunch of wives
Yes I voted,I still don't know why I voted
Helen Zille only speaks xhosa in time of elections
Jacob Zuma gives free taxis only to the voting station
Julius Malema will bring apartheid back it is said on radio stations
Mandela spent most time in hospital
All of a sudden his dead
Was he even in jail before?
Oscar Pistorius ran to ****
His now a criminal.
Mandela note on my hand
But valueless
Our economy is dying
Our world is dying
My Dear South Africa..No Power!
May 13, 2014
May 13, 2014 at 11:30 AM UTC
**** YOU HEAT.....
You cause my *** to get burned by my seat!
Every time my cheeks & the leather meet
Feels like hot coals under my feet
Right through my shoes.....fuck you too concrete
& that's the sidewalk not even the street
Swimming.... A refreshing treat
With ice cream to eat
Mission keeping cool complete
Adios hot weather I won't be beat
You're so sweet
Thinking you could defeat
....instead you're running away in retreat
Hopefully you don't attempt to repeat
.....risking to become obsolete
& I won't be discrete
Leaving the seasons incomplete
Then spring & fall can finally greet
Erasing summer as quickly as CTL ALT DELETE
.....this Facebook status was a rhyming top of the top elite
& it deserves a retweet
Flowing on a roll like tires on sleet
Or wind through holes in a sheet
If I want a retweet, I better go send out the first tweet
**** this flow is neat
When I finished & read it, I was like "awwww **** ***** *****
Jul 6, 2014
Jul 6, 2014 at 8:07 AM UTC
In this world of socialness and social media there can only be one God. And he does not share, comment, like or retweet.
Apr 18, 2017
Apr 18, 2017 at 10:31 AM UTC
I suckled my mother's Bluetooth breast
while my father built me a bassinet
of series circuits with high, motherboard
bars.
I've got that artificial baby glow.
But Mom put my ****** on Facebook
at four weeks and I still haven't re-friended
(forgiven) her. My upgrade's in nine months,
but I want my downgrade now
'cause all I get are social invite excuses
from Facebook fuckfaces. We pack
our lives into little boxes that we're
not even allowed to open.
We drink to technology, keep our lazy
eyes on our news feeds, and recycle
ideas like their owners would even
want to see what we've done to them.
We misquote Confucius and credit ourselves
with mangled Robert Frost stanzas.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I think
it's awesome that Pepsi used to be blue."
Reblog, revine,
retweet, FaceTime.
Folding chair fold-out on someone's lawn.
White-out Yeats, Keats, Byron, and Auden,
and write John ******** or Tom Whatever.
We're caught in the chicken wire of an LCD
fruit basket so neat, orderly, and brushed
aluminum. How can people write in Starbucks?
S
B
U
X
B
S
The cooler's too ****** music's too shy,
and the sugar, no, not just the sugar.
THE PEOPLE are too artificial.
The carpet-suit inlay I'm standing
on has pencil lead, sock lint,
and receipt shred lapel pins.
Even corporations play dress-up.
But what happens when Y2K kicks
in tomorrow?
Lives will be lost even before
the missiles **** us.
And the planes that drop
from the sky won't even come close
to when the bough breaks your little
girl's heart, baby, because your phone
can't raise her anymore, so you have to.
And based on your search history,
tweets, and recorded dreams,
she's better off in the warm
embrace of a hard drive.
Nov 26, 2014
Nov 26, 2014 at 10:54 PM UTC
Leave it for a day and the world forgets you exist. Not all followers, mind you, but most. Over 4,000 followers on Twitter and they'll retweet the latest tweet only. Most won't ask "Where's Kendra? Is she ok?" They won't go through my archives of posted poems to read or find some kinship. No. Only the latest & greatest, thank you very much.
Is it my poetry? Does it throw people off? Is it because I don't constantly write about erotica & flaming *** Is it because I discuss domestic violence like an uncaged soul? Or is it merely the beast of social media, itself? These questions I often ask myself.
I suppose it sounds like I'm feeling sorry for myself. Perhaps that isn't too far from the truth.
Not to put myself on some pedestal. I do the same thing. I simply find it sad. Thousands of poems posted between here, Twitter, blogs, etc. and it all goes unnoticed - except the latest one posted. Surely I'm not the only who feels this way but it wouldn't be the first time if I am.
Oct 3, 2015
Oct 3, 2015 at 11:58 AM UTC
It’s not enough now for my words to be written
They must be pretty, and witty, and bright.
The words themselves matter less each day
With each reblog, retweet and like.
It’s not enough now for my words to have meaning
They must be relatable, heart-wrenching and fierce.
The words themselves are being lost
With each glance, dismissal and worse.
It’s not enough now for my words to mean something
They must be have rhythm, or rhyme, and more.
The words themselves are unimportant
With that truth I take flight and soar.
May 18, 2013
May 18, 2013 at 4:15 PM UTC
How many likes am I worth?
How many swipe rights can I get,
How many super honest, friendly people,
Have I ever met?
Lights, camera, caption,
trying to reach my goal,
40,000 subscribers!
Take my instagram poll!
Should I post this selfie?
I might delete it soon,
thought that I looked cute,
but it sure wont make him swoon.
I have refreshed my page,
50 times since the start,
the want for more likes,
is tearing me apart
If I get 1,000 followers,
I will feel complete,
Does what I say matter
without a single retweet?
Jan 31, 2018
Jan 31, 2018 at 4:31 PM UTC
It’s not enough now for my words to be written
They must be pretty, and witty, and bright.
The words themselves matter less each day
With each reblog, retweet and like.
It’s not enough now for my words to have meaning
They must be relatable, heart-wrenching and fierce.
The words themselves are being lost
With each glance, dismissal and worse.
It’s not enough now for my words to mean something
They must be have rhythm, or rhyme, and more.
The words themselves are unimportant
With that truth I take flight and soar.
May 18, 2013
May 18, 2013 at 4:15 PM UTC
In case my Letter had not been read Clear
That for these Fourteen-Lined Girls I retweet
Was never to demean you; Nor pout Fear
But hope to contribute your Youthful Beat
Killing this Concept of Bleeding Bat's Tongue
Which asks nothing more but Maliciousness
The Fabled Book, not just its Cover hung
But Pages worded with the Prawn's Intent
You pound the Hammer; My Thoughts stick my Claim
Which only Un-Conditioned Fortune lies
To Jolly remove your Third Condition's pain
And bring that Heart back to you in Disguise.
You are Raised well, with Thought and Prayers bear
To Live in Great Response; And be Aware.
Mar 10, 2013
Mar 10, 2013 at 8:37 PM UTC
Not until you can see the pain in our eyes, the scars on our skin, the protruding ribs and distended stomachs of malnourishment, till you can gape at small black bodies disfigured by kwashiorkor and colonization, till you can gasp at people that don’t look like you being branded like cattle, like animals on their way to the slaughterhouse
(and thank goodness we’ve come so far, things used to be so bad)
Not until you can marvel at the mottled marks of a whip, the black and blue bruising only white hands can inflict, till you can shake your head at teens boldly drinking under a whites only sign, till you can cover your mouth and peek through fingers at the water hoses, the dogs, the guns, the blood— black blood on black bodies in black and white photographs
(and you inwardly sigh, relieved that it was so long ago and so far away)
Not until you can retweet teenagers face to face with riot gear and tear gas, till you can shake your head and show that you’re different because your black studies class told you so, till you can give a 40 character message about how sickening the violence is, but you keep watching the videos of him her him her him her him her him her
them
shot choked kicked punched beaten whipped slapped
killed
by government sanctioned executioners
Not until you can see everything but understand nothing
Always have to be ugly raw hurting bleeding suffering
Why can’t we be smiling laughing eating dancing breathing
Why can’t we be smiling
Why
Feb 4, 2020
Feb 4, 2020 at 1:21 PM UTC
Standing in this sphere
I seek communion with the Stars
Heat and dust for hidden answers
I wonder wonder where they are?
Bursting into gates I dawn my robe like a heavyweight
Wandering thru the distance I am guided by the Wake
skim the outer rim clouds dissolve revolve or scatter
but I'm focus on the mission I'm surfing streams of gray matter
burn to shine walk the line define gravity : the Force
untethered in this universe My vision on the course
I fast devoid of sun or moon
comet of the galaxy I'm bound to Windu
I am Master of the unseen epoch
I foreshadow the battle whether it
yet be not true
You know like Yoda, I do
I'm staring/speaking into the nebular
what will birth from this mother nurse?
As I transverse like silver surf
Don't act like I can't create Heaven on Earth
I'm meditating on the cellular
my midichlorian ***** is buzzing like a church!
No alms needed I'm lighter when lit unified with this (galactic ****
light sight like solo omni verse
Re
Y
Me
So far not tea grow VOTE
The dark side outta Ben is Bern it's my turn speaking truth into these chicken boot tweens in Twitterverse
PLUCK A FEATHER
And make an ill quill
Letter!
A retweet beat writer
Faux Father but a real goal setter
Hope ya feel better
OR
A
Curse
I DON'T NEED A LIGHT BEAM!
Less is more like an invisible burst
I could cuttlefish but I'd rather soar
With everyting I've learned!
I am more than hate is worth
No matter measure of endeavor
light speed hyper space ever nearer to the source
I
Inhale Trees Exhale breeze Interstellar
Squeezed
Me out
A Feat at first
Then
knees bows spout nose and cranium
If i didnt know better id say my bones marrow vibranium
One bout won!
The night win some but they just lost one!
If i couldn't make words then i guess I'd just hum! I was born with this voice and this voice has sung
I was born with this force and with this force I run into
Entwined and unleashed all is bound to the Force
Nov 17, 2016
Nov 17, 2016 at 3:36 PM UTC
Mourners of truth, now hashtag your pain.
Retweet and like, righteous fury appease.
Protests are trending, do not apathy feign.
Fight and resist, till the next Marvel release.
Jun 22, 2018
Jun 22, 2018 at 3:11 AM UTC
I’d rather go have fun with friends outside
Than be stuck on a screen waiting to die
Searching for the latest retweet or like
Just to find out no one cares about my life.
Jul 16, 2018
Jul 16, 2018 at 3:08 PM UTC
Okay New York here we go, today's the day.
That we're speaking in memory of someone who spent their whole life pretending to be someone they never could be
Loved by many but everyone who has ever loved you was a figment of your imagination
What is a person without a spine to hold them up right?
A snake in every sense of the word.
You slithered around your whole life glorifying your misery for a retweet and a spot at an open mic
What better describes the life of a starving artist than to sleep in your car but be found dead in the morning
You said you wished she would meet you at the rocks in Montauk but you were at rock bottom the whole time and no one would meet you there.
And you were down with abandoned ship that washed up against your loneliness
And abandoned things should stay abandoned when they're full of black mold and pathetic
I wrote this poem with my left hand because you felt like you were someone else
And I used my left hand when I finally pulled the plug
Time of death November 28th 1986
Apr 2, 2017
Apr 2, 2017 at 1:25 PM UTC
Philosophy. Elegance. Yet Sense un-done
That Time-by-Time those Bantered ***** retweet
Which - by Fair - smoke these Elements become
Breathe Conscience into Sage; And thus we meet
If only should your Fresh Convention wear
Prune these Forceps to your Young Tridents fixed
At least a Wee - and a Wee bit of hear
Some Owl's Downey Feathers make to your Mix
And what I offer - if Offer be Creed
My Base Mortal Template bound to Annoy
Was simply to Watch; And respond to your Need
Though my Voice un-qualify to your Ploy.
At least I Tried. Though surpass Dimension
Usurper I be; Though Honest Intention.
Mar 22, 2013
Mar 22, 2013 at 7:46 PM UTC
A rumble of laughter not from an LOL in an SMS
but a sound from a breathless child
running in a field
not scrolling through a feed
two friends sharing secrets
in a hide out only known by two
not hiding behind a barricade
clear yet mystifies the truth
I see you smiling in front of me
As you share old stories
And dreams of what’s to come
I don’t face a pixelated picture
As I try to communicate
Face to face?
Or face to screen
Or share winky faces
As you tease me
while sitting in a room two doors down
What happened to the times when
We were connected by the strokes of the words on paper
Or the moments captured by film
And not destroyed by a single glitch of a cellular phone
There’s a ring to my name as you call
A melody in your voice
But now
since when have IM ever been better than calling a name
with your voice
we know people more by the click of a finger
than a stroke of a hand
and from 140 words
in an app
expected to chirp our secrets like songs of birds
sung to everyone
We see connection
As the strength of the wifi at the corner of our screens
Dreams are shared with every retweet and reblog
Shared to strangers
Who care about you?
Or care about the amount of followers or likes you get
Of a picture you do not own
Of an experience you have never done
Or maybe yet to do
life is not as beautiful through a screen
it is not about those minutes you spend
clicking that play button
you cannot fast forward or rewind the wasted time
sitting and waiting
as the video loads
just so
YOU
Can live their life
I sit in front of a camp fire
Hearing laughters from every side
Smiles brightening in the dark
What happened to these nights out?
the fun nights where the stars and moon were the only light source
and not the screen of the 3G phone
or when beauty was only experienced and not captured
Dec 11, 2014
Dec 11, 2014 at 7:48 PM UTC
Go ahead,
Complain some more.
Complain about how horrible your life is to everyone.
Complain about how nobody gets you.
Post pictures of yourself crying on Facebook.
Retweet every tweet from @depressedkids.
Brag about all your "appointments".
Storm off in a fit because you just hate the world so much.
Wear 17 bracelets on one arm to hide ONE little cut.
YOU.
You are the reason nobody takes depression seriously.
Take a look around; maybe then you'll open your ******* eyes and see.
YOU are not the only one.
Nov 26, 2013
Nov 26, 2013 at 1:20 AM UTC
Hello
Is anyone out there
I'm trapped in a crazy world
Social media has taken control
Will you like my status?
Will you follow me?
Will you retweet this?
Will someone just be my real friend
Because at the end of this life
What the hell do I need a like for
I don't need 1m followers
I need connection
Attention that is more that 1's and 0's
Contact that is more than a poke on fb
I need a conversation face to face
Hello?
Oct 4, 2017
Oct 4, 2017 at 6:51 PM UTC
I sat on Facebook in the forest,
birds tweet and retweet.
I check my email again,
birds tweet and retweet.
there's an empty to-go cup
lying in the ditch next to the trail
DOI CHANG emblazoned across
its tubular length, ethically traded
subtitled below.
I whip out my camera, the world around me
solipsist phantasmagoria; the shutter closes
and I don't believe I exist until I see the
photo
Mar 22, 2014
Mar 22, 2014 at 7:25 AM UTC
pick phone up put it down again
take a selfie no another one and again light isn’t right
what’s on Twitter scroll for twenty minutes pause basically
PREGNANCY PRANK [GONE WRONG] add to playlist
oh how can he be the president like says it ‘coz he can
love the warm weather global warming maybe but oh well
Starbucks for breakfast lunch Spotify playlist
like red heart blue thumbs-up share like
that inspirational quote you know basically I can relate
CHEATING PRANK [GONE WRONG] add to playlist
election couldn’t have told you there was one
have we left it yet like what are we leaving again
petty crime rise stay vigilant
something about Brussels a royal up the duff
but did you see what Kim was wearing like did you hear
what her sister did with that guy you know that guy
look she’s uploaded why we broke up shame
oh yeah oh well
retweet
Apr 27, 2019
Apr 27, 2019 at 7:06 PM UTC
Yeah, when it is about someone who means nothing to you...
Why would you ever have time to call back?
Why would you ever have a rupee to text back?
Why would you have KBs to reply her back?
When she's none to you -
Why would it make a difference if she lives or dies?
Why would it make a difference that she ruined her life for you?
Why would it make a difference that she misses you?
Why would it make a difference that she wants you?
Why would her goodbyes make a difference,
When she was not even, a friend for you..
I want you, I love you...
But you do not...
Ofcourse like her,
I ain't intelligent I ain't hot.
I won't pop up ever again on your screen -
I won't ever communicate with you, with my voice so not sweet...
I won't ever like your Facebook updates or retweet your tweet..
I'm going - am sure I'm going..
Bye love..
And I'll always remember that you didn't come to stop me...
And you used to say that you love me!
Irony! My life's irony...
Oct 28, 2015
Oct 28, 2015 at 12:35 AM UTC
Love drunk murderers
subtweeting our inadequacies
Opening apps to know how you feel.
140 characters
but you chose to act like a *****
If I curse your name at the bottom of the ocean
do you hear it?
- Jason R. Johnson
Oct 27, 2015
Oct 27, 2015 at 4:25 PM UTC