On Discovering Pictures of Yourself at 16 on Foreign Pornography Websites After Using An App That Performs a Deep Internet Search Utilizing Facial Recognition Software

Danielle

Sometimes you forget that a photo was
ever taken until you find it again,
or it finds you. In red lipstick and a sports bra,
or a bikini top your mom bought you at Kohl’s.
Your hair, wet in some shots but not others
and you can’t remember why. The man
behind the camera takes the pictures
in the living room of his apartment where
he lives alone. You brought your friends so
you didn’t have to go alone. And now,
years and years later, so many years later,
the photos on your phone, photos you
had forgotten had even been taken,
light up your face in the dark of your
bedroom at night. Potentially explicit content,
the app warns on the results page.
How technology could recognize your face,
the face that looks so different from the face
you have now, is truly a mystery. The lips
are thinner, stomach softer, hair a different
color, but still, it found you. It’s in the eyes,
you imagine the app telling you, but the app
tells you nothing; it’s simply a mirror for what
you already know, what you would prefer
not to

© Variant Literature Inc 2023