No bang
No sirens
No headline
No operatic fall
From a glass tower
Mirrors go mute
Reflections unionize
Spotlight forgets the name
Forgets why it cared
A face leans in
Nothing leans back
Applause evaporates
Echo becomes extinct
Attention—regulated, rationed
Locked behind intention
Influencers
Post—post—post
Into the void
Algorithm blinks
Looks away
Tired of clapping
Charisma grows heavy
Masks itch without witnesses
Charm turns into dead language
No one bothers to translate
Gaslight bulbs burn out, one by one
Rooms fill with a new invention:
Clarity
People say
No
And the sky
Does not fall
People say
I don’t believe you
And the earth
Keeps spinning, bored
Power structures wobble
Exposed as mere volume
Fear as an unpaid intern
Titles begin to tremble
Posture collapses
Into posture check
Authority trips
And no one catches it
Shame knocks
Awkward, overdressed
Some let it in, sit down
Learn how to breathe
Others barricade the door
Write manifestos
Call humility a conspiracy
Collapse
Has no climax
No montage
No slow motion
It is tedious
Endless
Unshareable
No villains slain
No heroes raised
Just backs turned in unison
Refresh, refresh, refresh
Refresh, refresh
Refresh
Still nothing
A collective yawn
Heard across continents
The beast starves
On a crash diet
Of disinterest
Dying dull
And somewhere
Unnoticed
The air clears
Those trained
In the art of quietude
Don’t celebrate
They simply continue
Walking
Unimpressed
Unhooked
Mirrors stay empty
Noise expires naturally
And the world
For the first time in a while
Doesn’t need
To look at itself
To exist
