Falling victim to magnetic urge
the fat pad of my pointer
finger alights the rounded-corners
of a blue square and behold
Inner workings of people’s lives splayed
before me, at least projected
versions descend in droves
on a bright touchscreen 
Addictive tendencies paired
with unrelenting empathy leave
me susceptible to the cage
of my highly sensitive self
Bracing for extremes
each one- or two-line story sometimes
accompanied by visual 
evidence plunges into juicy
truth, drama, fancy

A warm, hairy sable sheltie schnauze
perches upon my knee in stealth
setting me free