social in poetry

before social networking
you used to lose touch with people
from the past parts of your life
unless you really really tried
Christmas cards and reunions
phone trees and newspaper clippings
now all the different parts of your path
will follow you digitally forever
whether you like it or not
your slightly-shameful goth phase
your incredibly-shameful Young Republican phase
the people who gave you wedgies in middle school
your parents’ racist friends
people from a job you held ten years ago in another city
college classmates from half-remembered keggers
ex-bosses third cousins ex-lovers
every different aspect facet of you smothered
into one conglomerate contiguous now
no longer can you change as a person
no way no how
a trail of old receipts will follow you forever
there’s no escaping anyone
there’s no escaping any past part of yourself now
ever