Tag: Facebook

Credo in the Age of Facebook by Gloria Heffernan

~ ONE ART ~ 1 Comment

Credo in the Age of Facebook

I believe friend is a noun, not a verb—
          and unfriend is a contradiction in terms.

I believe it takes a volcanic eruption to unmountain a mountain
          and unfriending a friend should take no less seismic an event.

I believe in the utter beauty of the unuttered opinion
          that takes the time to marinate in the brine of thought
          instead of being served up instantly and indisputably as fact.

I believe a sumptuous meal is meant to be eaten, not uploaded
          so please don’t bring your smart-enough-to-know-better phone
          to my table. I have not set a place for Siri.

I believe the most social of media is still a knock on the door
          and shared laughter over a cup of coffee
          that 643 people do not have to read about in real time.

I believe my beliefs make me the anachronism
          I have always believed myself to be,
          and friend, that’s okay. It’s just who I am…

                    “Like” it or not.

*

Gloria Heffernan is the author of the poetry collection, What the Gratitude List Said to the Bucket List, (New York Quarterly Books), and Exploring Poetry of Presence: A Companion Guide for Readers, Writers and Workshop Facilitators (Back Porch Productions). She has written two chapbooks: Hail to the Symptom (Moonstone Press) and Some of Our Parts, (Finishing Line Press). Her work has appeared in over 100 publications including Columbia Review, Stone Canoe, and Yale University’s The Perch. For more information, please visit her website at www.gloriaheffernan.wordpress.com.

Across the Street by Jason Fisk

~ ONE ART ~ 1 Comment

Across the Street

We live in the suburbs
and we have a Ring Doorbell
and we have a tiny dog
and there are coyotes
that live in the woods
across the street

I let the dog out
every night before bed
and watch her sniff
the air for dangerous news
blowing from
our coyote neighbors
across the street

I keep an aluminum baseball bat
by the front door
just in case the coyotes
decide to attack her
or try to lure her
back across the street

My imagination has
played out a scenario
where they surround her
and I come thundering
out of the house swinging
the bat left and right
taking out one coyote after another
knocking them here and there
sending them yelping back
to the woods
across the street

I think about the rush
I would get from
posting the Ring-Doorbell video
on Facebook

Every like a micro dose
of adrenaline

*

Jason Fisk lives and writes in the suburbs of Chicago. He has worked in a psychiatric unit, labored in a cabinet factory, and mixed cement for a bricklayer. He was born in Ohio, raised in Minnesota, and has spent the last 25 years in the Chicago area. www.jasonfisk.com