Click Collecting Poem by Mary Champion

Fixated as they are on accumulating ‘likes',
they fail to understand
that the world will not be mended
however many upward thumbs
and whole-handed,
even whole-hearted clappings
they provide.

Once meaningful gestures
are drained by hysterical overreaction
that alienates support,
becoming empty rituals
whose origin is forgotten,
then degenerate into
misunderstood symbols
of hatred and despair.

Emojis serve to represent
those overwhelming emotions
we could not ignore
if we allowed ourselves to feel them.

Through these
and other devices,
we effectively dissociate ourselves
from the reality
we are called to heal.