Day and night become irrelevant 

Time is no longer marked by the movement of the sun

But rather the hours passed in front of a screen

Purpose lay in the number of characters typed

In the number of liked photos, of emojis littering texts

Eyes blurring from the time spent staring at images

Images provoking thoughts

Of “It should be me” and “I should be there”

Emotions spiraling downward, surrounded by “if onlys”

Hours of wishing, talking, stalking on Facebook

Pillow talks conducted at eleven a.m.

Pavlov’s bell replaced by the ding of Skype

She is pixels that could be rearranged into something else

Hard squares with sharp edges

Wondering if her hair is still as soft as it once was 

Before her blue eyes were replaced by the black hole of a camera lens

Her fingers glide over keys instead of skin

Contact now falters with the WiFi

Change clinks on the bottom of the glass jar

“You cursed,” a dollar towards the funding of tickets

She’s already booked the next flight

A year here, two there, three trips over the holidays

Plane tickets are expensive nowadays

The fourth visit approaching fast

Excitement, chatter, clothing stuffed in suitcases

One year, six months, three, two

“I can’t do this anymore”

There’s no discussion, no pleading, no crying

Simply cut off with the end of a call

The finality of a computer clicking shut.