2017 Barrett Winner
1st Place Isobel Brown
“is Torre Bert on MySpace?”
i’m thinking about getting rid of Skype.
no one really logs on anymore, so i don’t talk
just linger, a dim red dwarf
fusing up slowly,
lest i miss something, someone
come to reward my vigil with hello
i was just thinking about you; and here
you are
but some nights i forget; i smile
and share my soul Online – but not on chat
because i’m tired; because my feet hurt; because i want to read about forsaken cosmonauts
drifting in the empty galaxy, without searching
for a sign of sociability from my contacts list.
and my head’s buzzing, busy enough
without wasting the willpower to reach out
through some clever conversational connector.
and even were i to feel the tug
on my network livefeed, i’d quick must leap
to Facebook; to Instagram; no – Snapchat!
every bright new ball of burning gas
fizzling or fading as soon as it’s named.
i can’t keep momentum, so my screen goes dark
and my timeline never updates
and my lonely mind spins out into the void.