Iconic Barrier

Its a world of Icon's, screen names and profiles..

 

 

Iconic Barrier

 

It’s the era of the Icon

With little pictures

Depicting a representation of the person hiding behind

It’s a small 1 inch by 1 inch squared image

 

Ranging from:

 

Fantasy Dreams

Artistic Illusions

Natural Beauty

Seduction

Pictures obscene

Cartoon characters

Paintings

Anything religious

And my personal favorite

The…“I’m only accentuating my good side”, Self portraits

 

Which seems to always be accompanied by…

“The Iconic Screen Name”

Generally filled with a secret meaning

An inside joke

The only way to reveal it

Is to secretly do some investigative

“Cyber Stalking”

By reading profile comments, picture comments, hell…any type of comments

As we turn the black light on

Over the bed sheets

Exposing what’s truthfully hiding under the cover

 

Since our icons

Reflect our present state of thinking

It’s the luring intrigue

Is why the icon has become…

“The Introduction”

Sparking curiosity to read…

 “The Profile”

A composition of carefully chosen words

In an effort to provide a general description

Arranged to portray who they really are

But often

Is deceitfully made up to portray someone they want to be

While others who randomly browse the page

Are trying to decipher its interpretation correctly

Leaving the profile viewers with an option

Keep passin’ on by

Or break…

“The Iconic Barrier”

Initiating first contact

By e-mailing!

Bringing together people who are countries away

Are now virtually face to face

Through the internet

But the delayed pace of email

Will quickly change

Jumping the technological tracks to...

“Text and Instant Messaging”

Since they are the new convenient…

 “Real Time Conversation”

 

Why make a call?

When we can type, then press send

Continuing on with the multi-task of talking to 4 different people

 

But either way

They are all hiding behind a screen

Still able to be whoever they want to be

Fooling the naïve into believing

Whatever they want them to believe

 

Kinda scary isn’t it?

 

This new social interaction

Adapting to emotions of these told facts or stories

Identifying their situations to previous ones in our own lives

Even though

They could be lying

It’s a risk

But since wisdom is obtained only through experience

Wouldn’t the chance of increasing knowledge be worth it?

From people, I’ve never met

Sharing experiences, I’d never guess

Never suspecting, I’d be learning

Through barriers

 

Author's Note

I literally just finished this poem today 4/27/08... I would appreciate any feedback for improvement.. Its been a difficult one for me to write.. let me know honestly what you people think

Thank you much love n' respect

-Lalli

Reviews

[M@]

Snaps fingers. I dig it.

Once again, another poem that seems it'd be better heard that read; because of that, the voices in my head read this aloud for me.

I like it; the off-rhymes flow well as they're placed at odd rhyming parts where I'd least expect it. Some rhymes provide for fasters beats, while others are more slow and mellow, causing the tone of this poem to constantly flux between frustration to ironic detachment to become attached. I like it.

One thing that threw me major off course with this poem was the writing style of it. Bold, italics, underlines, etc.; I'm not sure what to make of it all. If it were a poem intended for the eyes, then there may be something here, but as of now, I'm still unable to see it. If this is a poem meant to be read aloud, I'd imagine such a different writing style would confuse the person reading it (you or otherwise).

The piece overall is amazing, but there also seems to be two poems in here: one about our online identities and how we percieve ourselves are perfections of an anonomous community, and another about us coming together as humans through an ironic method of becoming further detached from one another. As with the above comments, I'm not sure what to make of this kind of stylistic choice, but I'm sure it's there for a reason, I just can't put my finger on it.

An awesome piece. I'm dumbfounded by the amount of truth in your work, and I can only imagine what your readers/listeners are thinking as they/you read/hear this. Once again, hit the nail on the head. Good on ya'.

[Annebelle Ashire]

I am so, so sorry it took me THIS long to even realize I had requests...


This piece was outstandingly pointed!

You nailed it right on the head - I've been thinking about it for a while now.
Yesterday I had been filling out a bulletin out of bordom and came across a question asking,
"Who Is Your Hero? "

I responded in saying that there are no " Heros " in this lifetime....Merely Icons. or rather Idols.
A cyber lie too many look past.

Again, I loved this write, and I apologize for taking so long to see this piece.

- AC -

[Babbette Francis]

I know exactly what you're saying, in amazing rhyme- I might add. See my profile picture? I was irritated and was saying a - not so nice four letter word- when the photo was taken. My son colored it and made it look more comical then it did before, otherwise you would be able to tell what was about to fly out of my mouth. lol. I put it up because it resembles my personality the most- cool and colorful, but not always! :P

[Sandra K]

This is a really good work. People base themselves off of images, and hiding who they really are. I enjoy taking the photography that i take, (see my myspace), because it displays the REAL me, in every inch.
Thanks for sharing.

Sandra K!

[Amanda]

there is truth in this write...how do we really know who or what is behind the icon? from past experience, i have encountered those have been lied, deceived and stalked. on the other hand, i have also encountered genuine and real people. it is just a crap shoot, as far as i'm concerned and you never really know what you are going to get. this is an eye opening piece and it makes one think. thanks.

Always,

Amanda

[Bethany Woody]

Somewhere among the lies hides the truth of it all. The only question is if you feel like going on the treasure hunt or not. We often set ourselves up for a fall, because it is more socially acceptable to lie about who we really are then to just be ourselves. The real person typically is not as well accepted as the "fake" persona we portray to the world at large. More often then not people do not realize that first impressions last forever. With a "fake" persona being the first impression the world receives and then the truth being revealed, well it only makes you look bad.
I never understood the point of being someone you are not, of being plastic copies of the person standing in line next to you. I shudder to think what the future holds, with the ever advancing technologies that drag us farther away from each other.
I think you express the truth of the situation in as clear a way as anyone else has ever done before. Although I like your wording a bit better then theirs, including my own. You have a unique style of writing and I think it is a fresh change from the constant rhyme we find on here all day long. That plastic like everybody else thing. Keep up the great work. I hope to hear/see video of this one read soon.

Mona Lisa

[yinseriv]

And there in lies the mystery. Or just the lie. We never know until the communication reaches a real level. Or we are crafted in the art of intuitive dialogue.

But we are writers and allow for a creation of self. I just take us at our words. The words will remain long after the flesh that bled the icon.

Your words pose a good question and spark a thought. That's a damn fine thing for words to do.

[Wildfleour]

I truly like it. The icon - I know what I wanted mine to represent - my inner soul and spirit. I also love to dance and anything that's unusual, I find fascinating.

But I do feel that there are many people that hide behind their icons, their profiles, behind the screen to avoid "real life". I hear there are actually cyber communities where people marry, build homes, etc. I mean really.......come on!

:)