A Slide in a “Harmless” Microscope | Teen Ink

A Slide in a “Harmless” Microscope

April 25, 2023
By caleighweintraub BRONZE, Hartsdale, New York
caleighweintraub BRONZE, Hartsdale, New York
4 articles 5 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be the positive impact on the lives of others"<br /> - Roy T. Bennett


My cold, glass skin

Placed on the stage of a microscope

It doesn’t seem all that scary at first. 

People gather around,

And peer through the looking glass. 


They analyze everything about me

Not one detail goes unnoticed. 


They collect data, and jot down observations

 to be shared later

They pick apart every tiny detail they see.


One mistake.

One simple, wrong move

And everything

Is different. 

I try to maneuver myself to be seen the same, 


But I am no different

Living under the microscope has ruined me,

But I’m still here. 

That small mistake is all they see.


To them, I am ruined

Yet the destruction entertains them.

It creates an audience

More and more people gather 

To observe, and share their opinions

They don’t care about me.

They wash me up, 

And throw me out 

like the rest of them. 


The author's comments:

Taylor Swift and her Netflix documentary Miss Americana, inspired me to write this poem. I started thinking about how people in society use social media to analyze every move celebrities make, just how scientists zoom in on slides using a microscope. When society does this to celebrities, it destroys the person. Sometimes people forget that even the biggest stars still have feelings. The microscope slide is meant to symbolize 21st century celebrities. The microscope itself represents social media, and the people that look through the eyepiece symbolize society and the people that tear down others through the media. 


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