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Digital Mirage 





words By Vismitha Yaji





She blinks once, she blinks twice

Trying to escape the cacophony of the digital trance;

Engulfed by glowing screens

She falls into the realm where reality bends;

Aimlessly she scrolls through her phone,

Stuck in the trance, away from the truth

Interrupted only by a loud call

“Come down for dinner!”

As a symphony echoes through the corridor,

She snaps into reality and runs below

“Did you hear about the genocide?” she asked,

“It has been on the news for the past 3 days.”

Mom said, perplexed by her tone.

“You need to get out of your illusion

Before it is too late!”

Yelled mom again, but alas! she knew she was trapped;

Her world so different

Yet so hollow, she thought,

While she lived in a universe

where everyone seemed happy,

Others here covered their frowns with masks;

Oh, how everything seemed so perfect there,

A click to make things disappear,

A heart to say you love it.

As she dove into the digital tapestry

The boundaries began to blur,

A reality? A dream?

The mirage fades and merges,

She knew that in the kingdom of streams and screens,

A new universe now unfolds;

Did she belong to this world?

Which iteration truly resembled her?

The girl behind the phone?

Or the girl with all smiles

Plastered across the net

waiting for her impending validation?

As she clicks away into a new reality in the new universe

Exploring the plethora of likes and comments,

She hears muffled tones

“Your food is getting cold, eat then stare at your phone.”

She blankly looks up

Though her heart was on her sleeve in this realm,

her mind was lost

In the shadows of the digital portal.