“Dude?”
“What?”
“Who was that masked man?”
“What?!?”
“I said, who was that masked man?”
“How should I know, dude? He wuz wearin’ a mask!”
“[…] Same as you, dude.”
“An’ you!”
“So wha’d he tell ya?”
“What?!?”
“Tha’s whut I asked ya, dude!”
“Well, ya go ask him then. All I got wuz mmmffrmurmruffmf.”
“Tha’s whut I wuz afraid of. Tha’s whut we all are now, yeah dude? Ships passin’ in tha night, sayin’ nothin’, hearin’ nothin’, touchin’ nothin’. Mebbe ya get a wave, if’n they care. If’n you care.”
“They’s always Zoom, dude.”
“Riiight. An’ whaddaya plan ta pay fer yer Zoom call wit’, yeah?”
“[…] Yer just fulla Christmas cheer taday, yeah dude? Sure ya ain’t depressed?”
“Yeah, well, ya know’s well as me whut the official 2020 Christmas carol’s gonna be.”
“Silent Night?”
“Dude.”
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again.
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone,
Coronavirus dread my own.
Near the window of a closed café,
I took what comfort from the chill I may,
When my eyes were blinded by
The glare of a computer screen
That lit the scene,
And touched the sound of silence
And in that naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more,
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing words that voices never shared,
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
“Fools”, said I, “You do not know,
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.”
But my arms were warded off
And my words like muffled raindrops fell –
And echoed in the wells of silence.
And the people bowed and prayed
To the IT gods they made.
And the screen flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming,
And the screen said
“The words of the prophets are
Written out on Facebook walls!”
But no one calls,
To break, the holy sound of silence.
(With apologies to) “The Sound of Silence”
Words and music by Paul Simon
Copyright © 1964 Paul Simon
I sang yur whole song in my head–sadly. The originl was pretty prophetic, too.
wow
Thank you…
Is it really necessary to touch strangers and distant acquaintances? I don’t lament that practice.
Good one. I’m not bothered by not shaking hands with people. Not at all. I’m not bothered by being hugged my everyone at church. None of that is sincere anyway, IMO.