Machine Mediation: Malice and Manipulation

late at night, getting lost in time.

cruising through the darkness and emerging into the light.

a pursuit of happiness like none other.

steady movement of advancement, yet rest as a fervent requirement.

a crushing race to rush and succeed,

a tempo that never ceases,

a marathon that is a sprint,

a life that is to be lived.

forging thought through identity,

finding purpose in monotony,

forsaking love for luxury,

feeling lost in this prosody.

the need to serve yet sanction the self,

the greed that breaks and cripples yet builds,

the deed done to secure safety, no thought to refute,

the creed of consignment and captivity to compute.

consumption as an escape.

consumption as a crutch.

consumption as a tool.

consume and you’re the fool.

oceans of notions and potions of emotions,

all brought forth through forms of commotion.

an encyclopedia enslaved to the media,

hard to break from the life of an acedia.

the thoughts aren’t yours, the thoughts stem from it;

you listen to it with no thought to resist.

you reap what you sow, you sow what you know,

yet knowing is nothing with nothing to show.

it preaches, it teaches, it reaches too far

it beseeches you to live a life that’s subpar;

in black you are clad, you know that it’s bad,

yet you can’t quite forget all the fun that you’ve had.

the balance of work and play, equal parts in a day,

yet there’s no balance in only seeing one way.

look how efficient, a one stop shop! 

and for you it’s technology’s cream of the crop.

rumblings abound, knowledge gets out,

they know what to do, yet they’re clouded in doubt.

everyone’s screaming but no one can shout;

it’s hard to fight back when you stay on your route.

and so it continues, the cycle we know.

productivity, anxiety, impiety grow.

think through your own mind, and not through machines,

maybe then you may know what it means to be free.