I know how this goes
a split second to decide
if you like the narrative conjured
up in your mind
from the images they chose to provide
superficial snippets of complicated lives
the stillness of it makes me queasy
we do not fall in love with static images
images are easily
cropped copied changed
people are not
images are ghosts
they are abstract ideas
that mutate with each passing voyeur
thrust into the digital uncertainty of
dating apps
images are imbued with
a false power
one that makes you believe
that you can feel the richness
of human connection
behind a screen
in truth
images are illusions
onto which we project our desires
and if we can shake off
the potent expectation
of the image
we will free up space
for the unpredictable
inexplicable randomness
that is falling in love
Megan Preston Elliott
She/Her
Instagram: @wordsbymeganpreston
“I am a poet, sculptor, writer and founder of Assemblage Magazine, an art magazine run by artists for artists. I have published online and in print in several magazines including Brenda Magazine and F*EMS Zine. My poem ‘New Skin’ was selected for inclusion in New River Press’ anthology ‘SMEAR: Expanded Reissue’. I have a degree in Fine Art from City & Guilds of London Art School, where I was awarded a prize for my writing by Art Monthly magazine. I am a queer, femme, cis-woman who also loves yoga, dogs, podcasts, gigs & going to therapy.”