Don’t Take Me Back – the painful side of social media’s 2016 trend

Published by

Sierra V. Fedorko

January 20, 2026

2016 is trending;
but it’s the year that marked
the years to come
of life
without a baby
the year I didnt know
that I would start
to die.

2016 is trending;
it’d be a long and painful
burial
month by month
by month by
month—
this is what it’s like
to die
when you are
still alive.

(But are you?)

I can’t get back
there.
Nor do I want to—
do not take me
back.

But if I could get to her,
I would keep
my mouth
shut.

For her, a great big hug,
instead.
I’m thinking,
but not out loud,

Light
got buried with you,
light!
Water is coming
for your soul.
Wholeness
for your wilting heart.
Flowers
for your aching arms.
Life
for your ashes,
then
a celebration of your
life.

2016 is trending;
I hold her
tight,
let go.

She will know soon enough;
it will not feel soon
at all,
and I can’t make that
any different,
but the Lord is making it
well.

-S.V.F. / Time Marker

Hope Gives a Eulogy – my journey through infertility

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2 responses to “Don’t Take Me Back – the painful side of social media’s 2016 trend”

Poonam

January 23, 2026

I totally agree! While I don’t regret that year, it reminds me of the pain, a lot of pain – of instability, of infertility, of loneliness. So I am better today.

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1. Sierra V. Fedorko
  
  January 23, 2026
  
  Yes! Social media trends are so curious. All I could think about when the 2016 trend kept popping up was infertility and I couldn’t remember much else about that time. But while I was working on this poem it was amazing to see how my life broke open during those years and (eventually) my smile became more genuine and I walked into a new kind of life filled with flowers and goats and wholeness. The Lord gave me children and I will be forever in awe of how He let the story unfold, but I’m adamant that my wholeness and true healing began before children and was not a result of them. ❤ I'm so glad you are in a better place today than in 2016!
  
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I’m Sierra

Welcome to my cottage garden in the foothills of California! I’m a poet, gardener, and sunflower enthusiast. Follow for personal poetry and prose rooted in my Christian faith and inspired by the turn of seasons both out of doors and in the soul. Find me on Substack – Green Fables.♥️

Sierra V. Fedorko