But free’s a funny thing, man

You have [1] SHEIN Mystery Box ready to claim. You have been chosen to participate in our reward survey for FREE! It will take you only a minute to answer the questions and receive your prize. 

SHEIN, SHEIN,
The name hums, a neon jingle in the endless dark,
Mystery wrapped in a box of air,
A survey’s bait, a dangling thread,
For a prize that whispers promises thin as smoke.

A minute, you say, sixty seconds to the dream,
Questions clicking gears in a rigged machine,
Answer me this:
Does the prize come wrapped in truth or lies?
Do the boxes hold gold or just echoes of desire?

FREE, it shouts, bold letters on the screen,
But free’s a funny thing, man,
A hook that pulls at the greedy fish,
Reeling them in for the cost of their trust,
And trust, oh trust, is the currency of the soul.

I see the glitter, the sheen of the SHEIN,
The boxes stacked high in the digital ether,
But what’s inside, friend?
A treasure chest or an empty room,
A ticket to joy or a road to nowhere?

Beat on, mystery box, beat on,
Spin your wheel, survey your seekers,
But I stand here, arms crossed,
A poet in the fog,
Grateful for the dance,
Ambivalent to the song.

I’ll take your survey,
But I’ll leave the prize,
For riches won quick
Are rarely the kind that last.

And when the box opens,
If it’s air I find,
I’ll let it drift away,
Back to the dream
From which it came.

Beat on, SHEIN, beat on.