Isolation, Pixelation
Remember then, the cinema glow
Communities in a silver wash beneath the shimmering screen
“Did you see that?” she might have said, dimly but with warmth
Heartstrings ringing under the celluloid bow
Her hand grips with thrill his other
The end of the lonely day
Remember then, the television screen
A family in the flicker of the cathode ray
“Ha! Hilarious…” he might have said, tired but with coolness
Resignation of a pulse to the steady beat
His hands clasped upon his belly
The end of the working day
Remember now, the tablet display
A boy straining in the glare of digital light
“Stupid kid” he mutters, dark and cold
Plasma chilled to crystalline ice
Hands slumped down by his sides
The end of the living day
Remember then, the crackle of the radio
Your Dad hits the voice with a dial — a smile
“…this evening’s top story” it calls, a fork, white teeth
Our brains sparking from lights over distant seas
Hands as fists with anticipation
The dawning of a new day
Remember then, the hiss of the stereo
In his room my friend plays his favourite songs — a nod
“…love will tear us apart” it sings, a bar, black lips
Our minds flow with the expected image
Hands clawed in nervous angst
The greeting of a particular day
Remember now, the silence of my headphones
On my phone up comes the playlist —
“Isolation” it sings, a club, a beak
Hands fumbling with my medication
Trying to end another day
“Remember then” the storyteller speaks:
“Around the fire you now sit, soon to eat, soon to sing
in harmony, bodies as one
hands together under eternal space
though you may fatigue and yearn to seek
some stars to call your own, now mark:
the arc of every scalpel slice
will sever heat from common light
till each may die in empty night”
