Erasure poem
It is easy to erase the email
with a plea to follow some friend
on Spotify
Swipe left and a little red panel with the word trash in it opens
Bye-bye
Even easier for the person whose name is vaguely familiar
wanting donations for her indiegogo campaign
I continue down the list of new arrivals
weeding out the unwanteds
quickly and efficiently but
I almost close my eyes and turn away
when I get to the subject line reading
The plan to save Brazil’s bees
same thing with
The right to write
the world’s largest human rights event
For a microsecond I pause
but then I open the panel and proceed
No problem erasing connection requests
for LinkedIn or Poem of the day
but my pace quickens
with the email
that asks for donations toward
food and water
for the latest souls
being herded and
ethnically cleansed
I can’t I won’t
erase the updates
on the wars in Yemen
and the Sahara
These are my chosen causes
I have given before and will again but
there are women in Iran
I won’t be able to help
I cannot donate to cancer research
swipe
I can’t give to victims of the earthquake in Turkey
breathe in breathe out
swipe
I tell myself pick your battles
I tell myself you can’t save everyone
I tell myself
I do what I can
I tell myself
it is unproductive to feel guilty