[tempo: slow and contemplative] Check it again. Maybe something changed. Pull down the screen and— ... ... Nothing. [vocal style: spoken word, disappointed and sad] Three likes. Two of them are my mother. One is probably a bot. [short musical interlude] [vocal style: hopeful yet tentative] Maybe if I post it again at a different time. Morning light, golden hour, whatever they say works. I read an article. There's a science to this. There's a formula. [short musical interlude] [tempo: speeds up, becoming frantic] Refresh. ... Nothing new. Refresh. .... Still nothing. Refresh refresh REFRESH— [music flows, sad and reflective] [vocal style: sad] I spent four months on that painting. Four months. And it's been up for six hours and twelve minutes And nobody cares. [musical interlude] Look at her. Twenty thousand followers. She started six months after me. Look at him. He doesn't even use real paint, just filters, And he's selling out shows in Chelsea. [music builds, more frantic] What am I doing wrong? Is it the colors? Is it the caption? Is it ME? REFRESH!!!! Maybe someone commented. REFRESH!!!! Maybe someone shared it. REFRESH!!!! Maybe I matter— [music stops] I don't. [music style: simple, single instrument- oboe] When I was in school they said I was special. They said I had something. A voice, a vision, a gift— Whatever word makes you feel like You're not wasting your life. But out here? Nobody's looking. Nobody's listening. And if you make something beautiful In the middle of the internet And nobody sees it... [rhythm section enters] Did you even make it at all? ... Refresh. Check the stories. REFRESH Check the tags. REFRESH!!!! Maybe someone mentioned me somewhere In some thread In some comment In some corner of this infinite room Where everyone's screaming and Nobody can hear me— [music swells] I'm drowning in silence. I'm screaming into static. I'm good, I know I'm good, I just need someone to see it, Just one person to stop scrolling And actually look— REFRESH!
