Non-Classical Poetry, Part 3

Part 3 is similar to Part 2 and the original, as far as I can tell, can be found here.

"Your generation would probably 'livetweet' the apocalyspe" you
say, and you laugh
You mean it as an insult, and I understand,
Or you don't
because the word lies awkwardly on your tongue, stumbles as it
leaves your lips, air quotes visible
You meant it as an insult, so you don't understand, when I look into
your eyes and say "Yes"
Because we would.
It would be our duty, as citizens on this earth
to document it's end the best way we know
and if that means a second by second update
of the world going up in flames, or down in rain, or crushed under
the feet of invading monsters
so be it.
It would mean a second by second update of
"I love you"
"I'm scared"
"Are you all right?"
"Stay close"
"Be brave"
It would mean a second by second update of the humanity's
connection with one another,
Proof of empathy, love, and friendship between people who may
have never met in the flesh.
So don't throw the world "Livetweet" at me like a dagger, meant to
tear at my "teenage superiority"
Because if the citizens of Pompeii, before they were consumed by fire,
had a chance to tell their friends and family throughout Rome
"I love you"
"I'm scared"
"Don't forget me"
Don't you think they'd have taken the chance?


Like the previous poem, this one works because it is now. The idea of 'live tweeting' is so new it is hard to comprehend. Until recently, I hadn't live tweeted anything. But then I did. And I felt the appeal. It was a way to share a situation with many people who could not actually be there. And, as opposed to other situations, I wanted to share it with more than one person. I could have set up a mass text, or a group conversation on Facebook Messenger. But that would not have had the same appeal.

When many people decide to live tweet an event, they create a community, for however long that event lasts. They can share their experience of it. There are also phone apps that do the same thing, but most are anonymous, and that is interesting too, just not right now. As I mentioned in Part 2, we are experiencing an increase in the ease of communication, and this is simply another example of that.

A theme across 1, 2, and 3 has been the draw on the past and past peoples and the yearning to know we are not alone. In 1, it was the idea that across time, all people have felt the same sorrow or joy as we feel now. In 2, it was how artists would have used social media to tell their stories. Here it is how the people of Pompeii experienced the end of the world, and how, if we experienced something similar, would experience it. Instead of becoming isolated in this new age of technology (as has been posited elsewhere), I find people have become more connected. And yes, we do need to spend more time with people in person. And yes, the parts of the world that do not have internet access are still too isolated. But that is not reason to despair. It is reason to hope. There isn't a lack of interest or concern or care. It is simply expensive and complicated, and in some places a logistical nightmare. So there is work to be done.

Across time, we shout into the abyss "I love you" "I'm scared" "Don't forget me". And, somewhere, sometime, a voice answers.