ETHICALLY QUESTIONABLE INTERNET POETRY

Devon Webb
 

I communicate

through indirection &

ethically questionable internet poetry

maybe these are not the most

effective of methods but

I am just really really bad

at communicating to people’s faces

it makes me panic, & cry

& fail miserably at getting my point across

I tend to blame the undiagnosed autism

or maybe it’s just that I can’t find the right… time

to talk about my feelings

cos other people’s feelings

are scary, & uncomfortable

& I don’t want to make you scared or uncomfortable

so I sit with my body saying all the things I can’t

& go home to write words that get me in trouble

but boy, I’ve never been so eloquent

my poetry the polar opposite

of my stuttering, my fizzling out into silence…

my strength against my weakness

my pride against my shame

my courage against my cowardice

my wild against my tame…

& maybe when I have spent so long

confined in the box my tangled tongue’s stuck me in

my words become my freedom

my poetry a doorway

to the world of things my voice can’t articulate 

my metaphors my miracle

my written truth my wings.

Devon Webb is a 25-year-old writer based in Aotearoa New Zealand. She writes full-time, exploring themes of femininity, vulnerability, anti-capitalism & neurodivergence. She shares her poetry online, through live performance, & has had her work included in over forty publications worldwide. She is an in-house writer for Erato Magazine, an editor for Prismatica Press, & is currently working on the final edits of her debut novel, The Acid Mile. She can be found on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok & Bluesky at @devonwebbnz.