I Wish People Would Stop Sharing Videos of You

Poetry by Subhaga Crystal Bacon | From Issue 31, Summer 2026

I Wish People Would Stop Sharing Videos of You


Friend, I can’t look at you now without revulsion. 
You, whom I loved in your body: your teeth, your nose
with its tiny horn of hair, spatulate fingers,
soft upper arms, those Revere-style dropped r’s.
This captured, animated you—smiling,  plump 
and pleased—is this your ghost?

Some say you come in dreams. My sleep is free, 
my days thick with you. I could say you live 
in me, cliché, so true. But these images of you, 
this false life tears the membrane between knowing 
that you’re dead and wanting you alive, on Ruby Ave,
in Marblehead, black cat on your bed.

Subhaga Crystal Bacon (They/Them)

Subhaga is the author of five collections of poetry and lives in north central Washington state.

Poet Note

Poetry has been my means of grieving my beloved friend, Jennifer Martelli, who died of pancreatic cancer in September. She was my best first reader, my dearest friend and supporter, and most reliably pushed me to write better, stronger, more honest poems. In the period after her death, many people posted videos of her reading her work. Meant as acts of love and kindness, for me, they were unbearable to watch. This poem examines my extreme response to these, a kind of revulsion, which was painful to realize. I’m happy to admit that I can now watch her with love.