The world has turned neon
no corner of it is dark
every shoulder I lean on
has something to impart.
“Follow me
my light is bright
you will see
just step inside!”
The statement is not new
though the wording changes often
rarely is it true
rarely does it soften
the fall that follows
the inevitable fade
of every hollow
neon face.
The signs live long
but the souls are weak
they rise and fall
to the same old beat.
The same old words
in neon inscribed
convincing the world
to step inside
closets of skeletons
the previous customers
rendered irrelevant
and buried just under
the platforms and stages
of leaders and sages.
Neon eyes
microphone mouth
so many will die
so many without
the promises made on
signs of bright neon.
Power to the preacher.
Platform to each person.
Personal deceivers.
Platforms are their prisons.
I want to find
a place without neon
a bed for my mind
and soul to rest on.
In the beginning, this poem highlights on those in authority. Their messages are spoken loud and clear, plastered in neon vibrance, promising answers. But the narrator reveals that they’ve heard it all before, although it sounds a little different with each person. What’s more, the narrator has seen the outcome of these signs and speakers. And it isn’t rewarding.
In the second-to-last stanza, this poem touches on the “normal people.” With the internet, everyone has an audience. Once someone has an audience they become important. So we start proclaiming our wisdom for the world to hear. But what we don’t often realize is that the people we are preaching to have audiences as well and consider their sermons just as righteous. Even if their audience is a mere handful of people, the individual has become possessed by the idea that their statements have worth because they are seen. Enter the echo-chamber.
The most common thing we do in regard to social media is surround ourselves with like-minds. We want to hear what we agree with and we want to be agreed with. Any sense of honest thought is lost because we are affirmed for preaching what our group is preaching—whether they are right or wrong. In the end, we’re no more than slaves to our echo-chamber, imprisoned by our own choice.
There is a second meaning to “power to the preacher” that I would like to touch on. It seems that, in our obsession to be right or speak our piece, no platform has been left untouched. I can’t count how many Christians I have seen or heard preach their own political statements over a pulpit. Where love and truth—truth entirely separate from our trivial political bickerings—are supposed to flow, so much hate and division is being spread. As a Christian, it is mortifying and incredibly worrying.
I encourage you to do one of two things. The first is this: take a step back from your platform and consider carefully whether you have created an echo-chamber. If you have, maybe it’s time to step off stage. You aren’t telling anyone anything they don’t agree with or already know.
Second, if you cannot leave your platform, reshape it. No one is going to be changed by a political social media post. Our minds are made and set in stone before we even open our social media apps. We will praise what we already agreed with and mock whatever doesn’t fall into that category. Rather than voice what hundreds of people with much larger audiences are already screaming, speak love—the one truth that everyone needs to hear daily. Be a gentle candle in a neon world.
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