walking isolation

noise-canceling earbuds and iphones have turned us into the walking dead
turn it off take them out experience this moment
it does not need a soundtrack
the text and tok can wait
around us is the vibrancy of life
friends lovers strangers mingling down the street in cafes coffee shops
we are not alone
yes
and yet
we create aloneness
lose contact without sense of life lives and loves around us
rather than look at each other listen to each other
we swipe and text and tik and on and on
not noticing the connective messaging going on within our orbit
what if you turned it off for five minutes
stopped
paused in this moment
paid mind to those around you both beautiful sad and lonely
how would it change things
if the internet went down for a week over the city
not hackers
but artists pulling the plug popping the bubble
separating us
lovers listening
the blur and beeps of traffic
noise not canceled
intimacy revisited in human terms
we fear ai is coming for us
we were already gone

nyc 2024

8-3-24

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