He’s left me on ‘read’.1
It’s a kick in the head.
He’s left me on ‘read’—
just as if I were dead.
On ‘read’ for one day,
I ignore it and spam.
I just want some notice—
I just want some time.
He’s left me on ‘read’.
Was it something I said?
On ‘read’ for two days,
I lean into my friends.
They tell be ‘Be calm.’
(I’m a lot, all the time.)
They tell me, ‘dig deep’
and ‘you’ve got this’
and ‘Kween’.
He’s left me on ‘read’
and it feels like love’s dead.
I’m on ‘read’ for three days
when I see that he’s played
at a gig in a band,
red guitar in his hand,
in a quirky checked suit—
but he’s left me on mute.
On mute for three days—
nearly four—and he plays
with my heart, posting memes
about girls being mean.
He’s left me on ‘read’,
so I take to my bed.
He’s left me on read,
and the tears that I shed!
He’s left me on read
and I’m so fuckin’ scared
that I’ll never be loved,
and my trust is in shreds.
On ‘read’ for four days
I get angsty and sing:
“I’m a motherfucking woman, baby that’s right,
I don’t need a man to be holdin’ me too tight.
I’m a mother fucker!!!”2
He’s left me on ‘read’
and it makes me see red.
He’s left me on read—
kinda hope that he’s dead.
On read for five days3
staring through a blood haze:
where the fuck’s he get off?
doing this?—fucking men!
He’s left me on ‘read’.
I’m so easily led,
fucking soft in the head,
can’t believe that I begged!
He’s left me on ‘read’—
but I’m inside his head;
I’ve got the same trauma,
the same fucking disorder
and I’ve done this before
to some others, for sure.
They say karma’s a bitch;
well it is—when you switch.
- Being ‘left on read’ is a phenomenon unique to social media and smartphones. It’s where you can see that someone has read your message/s, but they haven’t (yet) responded. This is similar to ‘ghosting’, in which a person simply NEVER responds to the messages you sent, whether or not they have read them. They may or may not remain ‘friends’ with you on social media, and they may or may not ‘block’ you; what’s essential is that they don’t flag their intention to disappear from your life: they simply disappear, like a ghost. Usually there was an established pattern of interaction between the two of you, before it suddenly ends, without warning. ↩︎
- Lyrics are quoted here from the song ‘Woman’ as performed by Kesha 2017. Songwriters: Drew Pearson / Kesha Rose Sebert / Stephen Wrabel © Concord Music Publishing LLC. ↩︎
- While this poem is based on real life events, here we diverge into poetic licence. The initial ghosting lasted 4 days only (it felt way longer!) and the person in question apologised profusely, afterwards. I don’t hate them. ↩︎
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