virtual silence that is so loud

it's a very strange phenomenon
i'm sure it will be studied or already has been
virtual friendships, relationships online

you meet, you share art, music, bits of your life
you read notes, status', see images
participate cyber-cariously in people's lives
the births of their children, grandbabies,
deaths of spouses and pets, parents..

joy and fear and love and anger
expressed various ways
through music, art, poems

you even meet some of your virtual friends in reality
you talk, you laugh, you even cry
a world never thought about even 60 years ago
at least not 90 years ago

wrapped up in friendships that are far away
some you will never really know
some you will never ever see
are they friendships?
figments of our imaginations?

i woke today thinking this:
"sometimes reality is so clear it is unbearable
making you want to cling to the fog of fantasy"

then i checked into facebook
again, like last night, felt strange finding
out about people's lives virtually
and yet ever feeling for people i've never met

but then i've made some really wonderful friends
and would never have been exposed
to the wonder of their lives without the cyber connection

alone but not alone, but ultimately alone
what a strange phenomenon
a complex layer added to our human need for connection
this virtual silence that is so loud
paris, november 2010