poem of the day 05.05.09

old pictures for the digital urn

she’s on
this social networking site
and has some of the same
friends as i do
friends i don’t keep
in touch with other than
on this social networking site
i think i like friends like these
but she keeps putting
up these pictures
these relics of the past
i’m in some of them
standing young and ill-formed
with a confused look on my face
she and i used to date
fifteen years ago
i’ve lived lifetimes
since then
i’ve had better ass than her
i’ve loved better too
but there i am on her page
like some statue
some dusted off old mummy
the past staring me right
in the face
the wasted smiles
on the wasted lives
of those wasted people
that i cannot even conjure up
anymore
yes, there i am
the dumb old boyfriend
of her hapless childhood
come back to haunt us all
on this rainy may afternoon
in america
and there isn’t a goddamned thing
that i can do about it
except stare into the digital urn
for a bit longer
try and remember my own face
then log off my computer
and go to lunch.