The Algorithm

Only the algorithm knows
Our true feelings these days
Responds to heartbreaks
Senses separation
Addresses misunderstandings
That, ironically,
He has created

Follow each other again
Don’t give up, he says
I have evidence of your shared interests
Mutual attraction
Maybe love even
Because of all the hearts

Feelings
Change
Never change
Can change
Because of an algorithm

His eager application of matchmaking
Creates constant excess
To feed the monster
No love involved here
Just a desire to control
Lost seekers
In the virtual world
With no connection
Direction
Other than the digital dream
A dystopia

There is no silence in this room
Only noise
Fleeting looks
Light touches
Without commitment
Once in a while, a surprise
There is actual flesh
Warm and a little wobbly
A feeling of home
Togetherness

But the story must go on
Many stories
All stories shared for 24 hours, max
Archived, deleted, reposted
The monster must be fed
Emotions abstracted, segmented
Without ever seeing
The full picture

Only sequences
Slices of sentiments
Slivers of desire
Never matching
Chronologically marching
One after the other
In a randomised choreography
Orchestrated by the algorithm

The flawless flows of foxed feelings
Open a path to emptiness
Lead to a site of commemoration
Where lost loves
Are solitarily remembered
And painfully burned
Into the beating heart
To leave a palpable, permanent mark