Requiem for the Memory of a Friend
O friend, where art thou?
Endless scrolls
Facebook, LinkedIn, Insta
I have new friends now
Whom I never met, who never spare a thought on me,
Truthfully, they don’t even know I am their friend
How will they know?
For we have talked maybe once 2 years ago
For 5 mns overall
Algorithms promptly picked it up
And recommended I add them as a Friend
Now I see them everyday
In the safe confines of my 5 inch screen
They never hurt me, don’t expect anything from me
In return, they give me a daily view
into their many happy highlights
One that helps me escape from my dreary life
I can’t help but yearn, to BE them
To switch places with them
Just for a day, surely it would be delight
Always so happy & happening they seem
It is a happy relationship we have
O friend, where art thou?
We shared a bond, wonderful times.. long ago
We shared dreams, insecurities, embarrassments… long ago
But we never shared Instagram handles
Or posts on Facebook or LinkedIn or anything alike
Nothing which capitalism could quantify
We thought friendship is more than comments & likes
That is it different from online-profiles talking to each other
As a result, deservedly so
Your memories recede
Into a far away corner of my mind
Never to be retrieved
Like the calculus lesson we all did
Will I recognize if I see you now?
You may have a family I never met
Or be a solo adventurer with tales to tell
You had trials, tribulations of your own
Experienced different experinces, thought different thoughts
We would be strangers, starting anew
The algorithms determined
And laziness aided,
Our friendship was not to be
Who am I even talking about? I don’t remember
