Sweeping the Beach

Sweeping the Beach

I stroll through social media each day,
And wander down some paths best left untrod.
I marvel at the comments on the way,
With happy words, or vicious, mean, or odd.
I wonder at opinions shown as fact.
I cringe at allegations so untrue,
I can’t imagine who they might attract,
Or what they might provoke someone to do.
Sometimes, I feel compelled to raise my voice,
And question a remark’s veracity.
But, often I regret my reckless choice,
When vitriol is splashed right back on me.
I may as well try swimming on dry land,
Or sweep the restless beach clean of its sand.

Mick McKellar
January 2016

Perhaps it’s the anonymity. I still remember the first time I saw Peter Steiner’s cartoon in a 1993 edition of The New Yorker and its caption, now become an adage, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

Mick