Network

Today, we find each other

In searches on the computer,

But what is there to be had

From pleasantries that ring cold,

“Like” buttons pressed,

Before the adulated photos and sentiments,

The lives behind them,

Are promptly forgotten,

Each searcher in their own flailing

Search for themselves,

Consumed

By the inescapable escape,

These constant forays

Into the tunnels of media

That don’t render us social,

But only immobile,

Wondering who we can be next,

How we can compete with that,

So all you find

Are questions,

Feeling more unfamiliar  

With the veneers of people you thought you knew

Than familiar,

Your queries only going unanswered,

Messages sent

Going unread.

With everyone in this faceless web,

Perhaps we aren’t always, really,  

More connected.

Did you know what you had

Back when life was about

Simply being lived,

And not about what’s to be used and had,

Things and personas  

To be acquired, owned,

This void of the future

More a place of possibility,

Advancements to be made,

Than the unknown.

When you’ve moved squares ahead

On the game of life,

Only to realize,

In your lostness,

That you’re further backwards  

Than forward,

Seeing your steps towards progress

Aren’t really part of the utopia

You envisioned,

Where do you go?

The network you’ve built

Is a box you’re trapped in.  

By Kathryn Sadakierski