Polluted Mosaic

I wrote the poem below during Week 4 of The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron's famous book and course for unlocking creativity. During this week, there's an exercise called Reading Deprivation, where you're supposed to minimize input by avoiding reading, watching TV, listening to audiobooks/podcasts, etc.

This was incredibly tough and made me realize how addicted I was to reading and watching shows and YouTube content (hence the nausea mentioned below!). On the bright side, my creative output increased, and the poem below is one of the results. I hope you like it!

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Words and worries—mine and others'

A heavy, easy-to-ignore yet burdening combination

That attaches to your brain and transforms it.

Every audio message listened to

Alters my consciousness irreversibly.

I tear up at my friend's joy at getting her driver's license

Her baby's first steps, first words

While I ignore little Lola, who's still sitting on the floor

Back against the hard edge of the bed

Listening to her parents yelling at each other.

"La la la la la" with my fingers in my ears.

The reason I don't want to have children.

WhatsApp—pollution

Facebook—pollution

Netflix—pollution

YouTube—pollution

Books—pollution

Browsing online—pollution

Healthy quietness—nausea, headaches, painful sobriety.

What should I do instead? Look out the window at the coffee shop, like a psychopath?

A polluted generation. "But we are not

too small, too flawed to be healed."

We are still here, worthy to wake up.

Wake up!

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The quoted text is from Julia Cameron's "Artist's Prayer." Thank you for reading my poem! My readers also enjoyed: