Maya Venters

Ctrl+Alt+Delete

I’m tired of trying so hard to feel connected,
of hitting “like” in hopes of getting more
hearts in return, of flatly living for
dopamine spikes, of fear of being rejected.

I’m sick, as if my body’s been infected.
Desensitized, I scroll past memes and war
and feel more sorry for myself: this bore
I call my life that’s clearly misdirected.

I’m stuffed: a glutton gulping information.
I know too much, yet every conversation
seems like it’s scripted. And when our eyes meet
I flinch because it makes me feel alone.
Control + Alt. Delete. Delete. Delete.
I want to wake with thoughts that are my own.

Maya Venters is a Canadian writer. She received her MFA from the University of St. Thomas (TX). Her chapbook Life Cycle of a Mayfly won the Vallum Chapbook Prize. She has published in Rattle, The Literary Review of Canada, and Literary Mattersamong others. Maya can be found at mayaventers.ca.