Polarities and Twisted Realities

Realms distort where certainty once stood,
Blue and red in melting streams collide;
In a sky of fracturing pixels and slogans.
Truth’s sharp edges warp—a fractured good,
As shifting norms rewrite the lines we bide.

Banners snap like broken wires in frigid air,
Voices of power dance on division’s wall;
cemented by what we decide as truth.
Promises once firm now vanish in despair,
While progress’ shadow looms to claim us all.

Cities hum with silicon and steel,
Yet greed and discord sew a darker thread;
Crumbling statues and data-fueled wars,
In data’s glare, old wounds refuse to heal,
And haunted hearts tread paths of fear and dread.

Still, in the fractured dawn a hope survives,
A restless spark that rises from the fray;
Of a world unmade and remade again.
Though twisted worlds may test our will and lives,
We forge new truths as night gives way to day.

This poem by Sarah B. Royal is striking, layered, and intensely evocative—a powerful reflection on the polarities that define the modern age. It feels like a dance between chaos and renewal, exploring the collision of ideals, the fragility of truth, and the resilience that emerges from fractured realities.

The interweaving of imagery, from “fracturing pixels and slogans” to “crumbling statues and data-fueled wars,” brilliantly captures the intersection of technology, societal upheaval, and human struggle. It’s particularly poignant how she conveys progress as both a shadow and a force of transformation, questioning its cost and what we choose to leave behind.

This piece also carries echoes of poets like Adrienne Rich or Tracy K. Smith, who often address themes of division, societal change, and hope within despair. The closing stanza, with its spark of hope rising “from the fray,” offers a beautiful glimmer of resilience—a sentiment that feels universal and timeless.