Subject: another shakespeare sonnet I liked

Open your Gmail. You have exactly 3,895 new messages unopened since Four years ago. They all sell shoes, College application tips and remind you That you used to send poems you liked to Your English teacher. Pre-1850, usually. A wonderful, dirty Receipt of all your living. See the starred messages flash A canary yellow right above your Drafts. Open Apology letters that you thought would be A good idea to type out. Slides 7-17 Sent to the boy you longingly glanced at in the hall – Biology, of course. Now he’s in a small Liberal arts college, in some town, with the same Scruffy hair. Except now he lies on his LinkedIn. Glance at an article your dad sent to you about Rising popularity in AI tools. Earlier you called him And withheld the urge to cry, or else he’d cry too and They never really tell you what to do when Your dad is crying. Look, a kind invitation To give your money to some burning zoo, Or a kids’ hospital you went to once. You miss their foil wrap lunches. The clinic here Doesn’t offer that fruity juice you liked Or any smiling stickers. Yet you yearn for it The mixed peach-banana flavour and Strawberry hue, though you don’t recall Much else of what you used to like Or who you used to be. Learn to be more honest. To be more careful. Compassionate. Selfless. Learn. Your words matter. No, scrap that Boy 17 said actions speak louder than words, Or some rendition of it. He wrote an essay About this for his introductory college seminar and – you should know – for some reason posted it online. There are softer things to learn. The words to your 10th grade play, your valedictorian speech. Some lyrics You put together for a Christmas duet Performance with that kid who Doesn’t speak to you anymore but Whose harmonies you occasionally echo In the shower. How about that rubric For your Economics paper, Or the list of questions that you prepped For some speech tournament. But now There are harder things to learn. Here, Neatly dispersed throughout your screen Lies your whole life. How you used to love it. Here, Boxed within the purple-chosen outline Of your Inbox. Select all conversations. Delete All.