Where Are All The Friends?

Where are all my friends?

Oh, they’re on TikTok

Their faces are stuffed in Netflix

Amazon

Bravo

Or HBO

They’re gaming or streaming.

They’re recovering—

But will they come out of their chair?

Get off their beds?

Will they come dance,

Play,

Or walk the streets

To get up to good ol’

Clean fun again?

Will they laugh,

Joke,

And play?

Will they remember the good ol’

Days?

When cordless phones were novel

Dial-up was the fastest

& every time you called,

Someone would pickup—

You’d hear a real voice—

You’d get a concrete answer

For plans

One way or another.

And if they didn’t pick up,

It was a flat out no,

Onto the next.

The times when life was more concrete,

Hands on,

The simpler times…

Where we knew less.

“With great privilege, comes great responsibility,” they say.

Are we stewarding this new age

Well?

Or is it still all too much for us?

What can we do to:

-Live within our boundaries

Where the prairie is nice?

-Honor one another with these new tools,

Even though most of us are still a tad confused?

Can we do this well,

Be in this time

Can we be present

Filled with joy and peace

And still be relevant,

Yet not overwhelmed?

Will our children steward AI,

Keep their heads above water,

And still be able to take a walk

Once in a while?

Enjoy a bonfire?

Some live music?

And unwind?

And where does this leave us?

Simply put:

Even in this new time,

Live simply

Live with ease

We don’t need permission for this—

Give stuff up

Don’t go with the masses

Go with your gut

Bless your mind, body, will and emotions

And use common sense

Go your own way if you have to

Grow some vegetables

And I think we’ll all be

Pretty much fine.

Maybe we should

Get crazy

And go for more than fine?

But we might not have the energy

Yet to get up off of our beds…