Telescreen
The worst part is / I signed up for this, / and keep coming back for more.
by Leah Mueller
You barrel towards me,
a dump truck loaded
with feces. If I refuse
delivery, you step on
the accelerator, and
the shit comes even faster.
Once, I could
bolt the door
to stop your words
from arriving,
but now they
appear around the clock,
like unwanted packages
from messengers on
an endless shift.
The worst part is
I signed up for this,
and keep coming back for more.
Despite my discontent,
I will return again and again,
until I’m too old and ill
to flip the on switch anymore.
I’m sorry, George Orwell.
I promised to resist, but
in the end, I was seduced
by the thrall of eternal connection.
Leah Mueller is the author of ten prose and poetry books. Her work appears in Rattle, Midway Journal, Citron Review, The Spectacle, Miracle Monocle, Outlook Springs, Atticus Review, Your Impossible Voice, etc. It has also been featured in trees, shop windows in Scotland, poetry subscription boxes, and literary dispensers throughout the world. Her flash piece, "Land of Eternal Thirst" will appear in the 2022 edition of Sonder Press' Best Small Fictions anthology. Visit her website at www.leahmueller.org.
