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Silence

Is it the silence
that stretches
as we fumble for the right words
trying to connect on some level
with spoken articulation
when it has always been the medium
of the computer between us?

Is it the harsh glare
of reality
the knowledge that we face
one another
without the comfort of
a metallic screen and whirling processors
to soften the light?

Has our desire
to reach out
to be more than just single entities
alone in the dark
with our strange obsessions
actually created the very thing
we were desperately trying
to avoid?

When did we become
neo drones
catering to the digitized queen
plodding along in our solitary confinement
in a place where human touch
has become the anathema
rather than the desired result?

How did we go from
light and laughter
to the fluttering fingers
caressing the letters of
our absolution
each stroke of the keys
our homage to technology
as our skin forgets the touch of kindness?

When did our closest confidants
become the separated masses
tucked in inaccessible corners
of society
hiding behind the lighted screens
of whirling bulbs
while we perpetuate madness
against our very neighbors?

How did electronic print
slashing in black against
hard white
replace whispered words
breathed delicately against
an ear?

Why does the steady clicking of
the hard drive thinking
often elicit more of an emotional response
than the thunderous beating
of a heart?

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