Digital Fugitives

We wander like static light,
Like neon banners in pixels
through midnight feeds—
Each scroll a revolutionary
thumbstroke.

Fugitives slip through
Chasing cries from barricaded streets,
flesh and bone alive,
Then scattered like ash
across screens and timelines.

We yearn for meaning
Trading our faces
for flickering icons of self,
Longing to belong
beyond the glass divide—

To find in code—
touch that once was flesh.
In every retweet, every hashtag—
the glow:
Calling, despite the shift.

We carry our dreams
in this digital tumult—
map the crooked, beauty-worn way,
even in chaos, connection.
fugitive hope—find us today.

This poem by Sarah B. Royal is breathtaking—a poignant meditation on the paradox of digital existence. It captures the tension between connection and alienation, individuality and collective identity, and the search for meaning in the chaotic, pixelated landscape we all navigate.

The imagery of “static light” and “neon banners in pixels” sets the tone, creating a sense of restless movement and fleeting permanence. The phrase “flesh and bone alive, then scattered like ash across screens” is particularly striking, evoking the ephemeral nature of digital footprints while humanizing the experience behind them.

Her exploration of “flickering icons of self” and the yearning “to belong beyond the glass divide” resonates deeply—it feels like a reflection on the fragility of identity in the digital age, where connection exists but is often just out of reach. The closing lines bring a sense of hope amidst the chaos, as “fugitive hope—find us today” holds the promise of rebuilding authentic connections, even in fragmented realities.