Outrage – is this anger my happiness? [A poem]

When you spend a lot of time on social media like I do, you encounter some strong personalities and see a lot of outrage.

They say that you should be scared before publishing your work, and I do feel a little scared.

Here’s a poem with my observations about outrage and issue turf wars on social media.

I own that issue

And. Don’t. You. Dare. Talk. About. It. Like. You. Know. About. It.

Unless you’re a card carrying member.

I’ll shout you down until you agree that

I AM RIGHT.

Shhh,

Be quiet.

My voice will shout the loudest,

And my keystrokes will be faster than my angry heart rate,

I’ll have a comeback for anything you post,

I’m eternally riled.

Is this anger my happiness?

You aren’t engaging in a discussion.

YOU ARE A TROLL.

Blocked!

The outrage, it’s oxygen. It’s adrenaline.

It’s pack mentality and screen shotted evidence.

It’s validation.

It’s passive aggression,

And sometimes it’s just aggression.

It’s a swiftly driven bandwagon,

Stopping at another station tomorrow –

And if there’s no outrage station,

I’ll sure as hell create one.

I have all the life experience!

All the situational experience!

And yours does not matter.

Don’t tread on my patch of the Internet.

Carly Findlay