RVDP photo1
SELFIE
by Rodrigo V. Dela Peña, Jr.

Look at me. Don’t turn
away. I crave attention,
demand all eyes turned

in my direction.
Behold my face reflected
in an elevator

mirror: self-portrait
with rosy vintage filter.
A little blurry,

and out of focus
but don’t you think it adds to
the overall effect?

I’m mysterious yet
friendly, open to casual
fun, no strings attached.

My emoticon
is a wink with lips pouted
for a kiss, like this: ;-*

This is my real self
so believe me when I say
and post the details

of my day. Like it,
share it, tag your friends, and add
a comment (or six).

I want followers,
thumbs ups, to be clicked on
and gazed at. Alone

and public, I am
my own witness, my voyeur.
Snap. Now look at me.

IMAGE: Selfie by Rodrigo V. Dela Peña, Jr.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rodrigo V. Dela Peña, Jr., has been a fellow for various writers’workshops in the Philippines. His poems have been published in the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Kartika Review: An Asian American Literary Arts Journal, Corpus: Journal of the Los Angeles AIDS Project, The Guardian (UK), and other journals and anthologies. He works as a marketing communications specialist in Singapore.