I see that you have it, so that’s what I need

It will make me happy my ego to feed

But when I get it at such a high cost

It pleases me little, but a fortune Ive lost.

 

You look so happy with your wonderful life,

With your beautiful children and no trouble and strife.

I envy your world and the joy that you show,

But behind that bright picture, what don’t I know?

 

I see just a moment, selected with care,

A smile and a snapshot you wanted to share,

I measure my whole life against that what I see,

And wonder why yours looks much better for me.

 

It’s there online, on a book with a face,

So it must be true, but I now see tears as they trace.

You are in debt up to your neck and your partners a fraud,

And over you hangs a Damocles sword

 

The algorithms, they snap and they bite,

Trying to show me things that are not right

They play with my head and trouble my mind,

Pretending to be friends but they’re definitely not kind.

 

So now I’ve seen through the tissue of lies,

The perfect lives paraded before my poor eyes,

The things that I wanted, the life I desired,

Were bait on a hook to keep me inspired.

 

To envy, to purchase, compete and compare

While algorithms take my secrets to publicly share,

They fed on my weakness, my anger, my fear,

And troubled my happiness year after year.

 

But now I can see them, I know what they do,

They don’t show reality, they distort what is true,

So I’ll choose my own life, imperfect but real,

And no longer be told what to want, think or feel.

 

The algorithm calls, but I’ll no longer obey,

I’ve seen through the falsehood and I’m walking away.

For envy is a prison with invisible bars,

Built from somebody else’s possessions and invisible scars.