It's nice to have friends
But it's also not bad
To hear cotton-voiced guys and marble-voiced girls-
Strangers over group calls,
A happy little break from
Rotting in your bed and
Staring at the walls

A sixteen year old plays her favourite songs
For a man a decade older
I try to warn her
But she doesn’t listen
But I don’t listen
As I keep humming the tunes
The artsy man says his girlfriend loves
I thank God he’s unavailable

I tease a guy, pull his legs
I think I would avoid him
If I were to meet him anywhere
A classroom, a bus stand, a friend’s house
He is rural but his tastes are global
A gen Z specimen and a flirt
I call him my brother and he bans me from the chat
All girls in the group face exactly that
And we laugh
I promise to stop and he lets me come back
But he’s a virgin, he says
And I’m a virgin, but I only smile
We all know we aren’t going anywhere
Further

The older woman who sings like a star
And the guy my age who plays the guitar
The nerdy boy who shares great memes
And the sulky teen who has big dreams
All of them, I’ve known for a week,
All of them have known me a bit

When the walls shut me in
I let the internet win:
They’re fragile and fickle
But these are still bonds
When I scrape for memories
They won’t be gone

We’re, we know, just passing the time
They tell me stories and then listen to mine,
And we waste away our lonelinesses
With pseudonyms and masked faces,
Celebrating our virtual lives.