Faceless

I forfeited my face to the social media,
Immersed in the LCD screen of my smartphone
So have you, you, you, you and most of you
The "smart" generation; lost in the virtual world....

I was in a restaurant with my (now) ex-best friend
Four years ago we met; to chat and exchange pleasantries
All he did was to glance at his phone every now and then;
So much for best friendship....

I am talking to you, but you are looking down,
Looking at your screen, waiting for a message
Which will never come,  from someone far away
Completely ignoring me, pretending that you are listening.

Yes I am addicted too, to that screen
Which emits blue light; we all seek it
Like insects seek the light...
Yet the sight of myself or someone else
Looking down at it annoys me...
"Social" we are on the media,
Outside it islands looking down
Blocking out sights, people, life....

The screen is an excuse, to escape
And not face the world,
When I feel timid and lonely
In a group of people
Or just because I feel bored or left out
From a conversation everyone is having
Or just because there is no conversation at all...

My head is held low, not out of shame,
But I am trying to find a way in the world,
Staring at the Google map, instead of  looking out
Of my window seat at the sights on my way....

I see a person opposite me; I don't know who that is,
'Coz they are too "busy" browsing on their phone
Looking down, their face barred from sight.
I see another person, again faceless,
Busy posing for a selfie.
May be I will find out who it is on FB or instagram...
The places where I redeem my narcissistic ego....

I am eating delicious food, got to click it before I eat
Because no matter how good is the flavour
Click I must before I savour....

I have to "live moments" and "show" the world how cool I am
So I take selfies in places, infront of monuments...
But the frame is full of me and me alone,
But just believe me I was there just that the camera wasn't wide enough.
Adventures don't seem so without a phone video, a selfie or a groupie..
So obsessed am I with looking at the phone for that adventure selfie
That I can't see that I am falling off the cliff...
Oh wait I will go "live", hashtag this #freefallbeforetheskullbreaks...

Addiction, addiction everywhere, eyes kept open all the time,
Too much info all the time, relayed and relayed and relayed....
Never ending stream of pictures, lectures, opinions, news, controversies...

Makes me guilty of this OCD; of having to check that screen at times
Of having to feel "incomplete" without that droid, ignoring all the real humans,
Alive and around me...

So immersed inside that screen and the numerous apps,
I forget the sights and sounds of real life...
Would we be needing a handheld LCD device to understand
Smell, taste and touch too? Wait touch is already there,
The monotonous touches and swipes which make the addiction easier...

Addiction so severe, that makes me think,
Why can't I watch the sunset, without the urge to click
Without the urge to go online and share immediately
When I am missing the whole beautiful sunset
While I am busy sharing just one picture?
No a video won't help, because there are certain
Things like sunset or the moonrise which have to be "watched"
And "experienced", a snapshot won't help....

And there are other things like the feel of the wind
Against your skin; the feel of standing in the waves,
Which pull the sand beneath your feet away...
And the feeling of being in the rain....
Thank goodness I don't want a phone to experience them.

So addicted am I to the radio and electronics enabled technology
That I have forgotten about the EM spectrum and the electrons,
To gaze at the night sky and remind myself how much I love them,
To "see" the sights the visible range can show me back down on Earth,
To "hear" the real sounds around me; to come out of the 2D world
Into the 3D real world, savour it, love it and live it....
Am I a faceless addict or is this all part of human evolution?