Instagram once bolstered my confidence, until the platform fell out from under me. I counted likes and shares in increasing heights of obsession. I used the validation to measure my self-worth.

I posted once a week on an Instagram poetry account for eighteen months. I retreated in July 2022 from online approval and marked my profile as “On Hiatus.” I thought I’d come back someday. In 2023, I marked it “Archived” and hid the posts. Someday soon, I may delete the account entirely—words and all.

Most of my poetry is revised over months and years. Insta poems typically took a quick bite out of a subject and spit it out within a week to stay relevant to an audience. The forum has limits. Such short notice placed pressure on me to perform. Plus, any sonnet would barely fit a post at 14 lines given the need to cram words into a large font legible to readers.

Personal interest toward my Insta poetry is limited to a select few pieces. Previously shared poems that passed the revisionary cut stretch back from March 2021 to July 2022. You can find examples in the slideshow below.