Remember the Days

I dream of a time

When a knock on the front door

Had me and my friend clinging on our bikes

Leaving tire marks through the neighborhood

Until the leafy redwoods extinguished the golden sun

Not rushing to snatch my online order from the porch

I reminisce about the days

Where a crossing of paths

Meant a mandatory performance of a secret handshake

A compilation of high-fives and fist-bumps

And a misstep meant a profusion of giggles
Not pulling out an app to avoid eyes

I think about those moments

When free time

Meant microwaving marshmallows with friends

Shrieking and squeaking

When it erupted into a puddle of smoking putty

Not scrolling in dim light through memes

Then I awake

From the blissful innocence that was childhood

Into the nightmare

Where friends become avatars

And the void of pixels consumes us all