An Online Affair
By Elizabeta
October 31, 1997
He eagerly types a letter
hands flying across the keyboard
as if he were typing the world's greatest novel
instead of a love letter to his cyber girlfriend
Wild eyes glued to the screen,
he downloads the picture she sent him
making sure that his screen is hidden
so his wife will not see what he is doing
Reality has blended
with the surrealistic world of Cyberspace
The man who once loved his wife
and paid attention to their kids
now ignores everything,
except for his online girlfriend
whom he is planning on meeting offline in the fall
He ignores everything
His wife, his kids, his family
To him, Computer Land is real
and so is his virtual girlfriend
and their little cyber world is all that matters
Hello, is life out there
Is anyone listening
The world seems to be draped
in the deathly chill of silence
Like a high tech shroud
No sound is heard
except for the beeps of the computer
and the .wav's that she sent him
The roof is leaking
Water drips onto the floor
and splashes from their eyes
the young eyes that see their father
looking at a grainy photograph
Of a woman who is not his wife
For she stares into space now
Her husband is gone
but yet there
always there
always on the computer
And nothing matters anymore
Maybe if by some horrible fate
His computer would break down
and he would be in the real world once again
Would he realize what he has done
and try to make up for it
Or would he be too blind to notice
the tears around him on the floor
cried by his children
for their mother who died
from taking one to many sleeping pills
Is his mind too far gone
to see the nightmare he has created
and his family that he has destroyed
All for a "fun" time on the computer.....
-=-