Faces by: Stephanie Josiah 2014

Faces
Not just people
But the expressions
That we meet

Places
Not just spaces
Of where we traveled
On the street

The corridors of cyber land
circles of people huddled in
Pages or groups and followers
Live interaction's subtle end

I miss the silent roar of conversation
The buzz of small talk in the air
I miss the human to human face time
Where folks say pull up a chair

It hit us hard
An epidemic called social media
Google plus, facebook and Twitter
And dang that Wikipedia!

We used to congregate for small groups
We used to gather at folks' homes
Now the libraries and meeting places
Are modern day catacombs

There's no connection
For all the WiFi
Not enough computers on the land
To bring back the days of people listening
It flew away with more broadband

A family outing at Outback
They ordered from the waiter, Bill
Then buried their heads in their cellphones
Like family time's against their will

I miss the glory days of story telling
And sitting outside on the stairs
The children yelling, playing, dancing
Folks swaying in rocking chairs

I miss the oldtime toys and train sets
The days before the batteries
Were required, not included
In our children's diaries

I miss looseleaf the pen and paper
The brand new or old hardcover smell
But now we have no time to stop in peace
In our convenient cyber hell!

What does the church of today look like?
Before we read our Bible app
We make sure it doesn't conflict
With any other cyber crap

And we pass the hoards of sorrowed faces
Not even looking and that's fine
Because charity has been made easy
We can give our gift online

I'm not saying burn your laptop
Like any tool, it has its perks
But have we traded in what made us human
And become cyberholic jerks?