In a utopian world online,
emotions arrive in cinematic light –
OTT dreams, softly-scripted care,
every feeling framed just right.
Pain has background music there,
tears fall slow, beautifully timed,
even heartbreak looks poetic
when edited by the mind.

The heart finds warmth in glowing screens,
a safe illusion, clean and kind,
where words hold you without bruises
and silence doesn’t scream unkind.

But reality has no filters –
violence lives in ordinary days.
It makes the body small and careful,
teaches fear in brutal ways.

Here, vulnerability is dangerous,
softness costs, trust bleeds thin.
The mind builds walls for survival
while the heart keeps fighting in.

Online, heart and mind make peace –
they sit together, gently healed.
Offline, they stand on opposite sides,
one afraid, one refusing to yield.

The heart still hopes to be understood,
the mind already knows the cost.
Between comfort streamed in pixels
and real-world harm, hope gets lost.

So, we escape into the surreal –
where care is easy, pain is styled
because reality punishes tenderness
and leaves the vulnerable undefended, exiled.

Cover image by Abhishek Chadha on Unsplash