what does it mean to be human?

five thousand friends

on facebook

felt more like my audience

than friends

when i cut them down

to two hundred

i stopped responding to

hateful comments

and felt calm and balanced

i don’t even need

facebook anymore

to feel connected

because my real friends

care for each other

soothing sounds

of nature

on my google home

and

soft music

on my phone

and in my car

or on my earbuds

brought me

relaxation

until

one day

when i turned it off

i moved deeper

into a state of tranquility\

i enjoyed

the sounds of life

around me

when i have a question

i ask google because

google has all the answers

and one day

i asked a question to a friend

and she said “i don’t know”

that felt so different

i held on to my question

i expanded my search

until i realized

that i was asking

a wrong question

google may know

all the answers, but

google does not know

a wrong question

when i was a kid

my teachers told me

to read newspapers

to improve my english

i loved reading

letters to the editor

one day i tried writing

a letter to the editor

and felt responsible

to be succinct and graceful

funny without being hurtful

to be mindful

of how I come across

today what we get

from whatsapp,

twitter and instagram

we call it news

we track public opinions

based on tirades

people unleash

on each other

we consume hatred

not caring that

it’s poison

we consume lies

not caring that

it’s a mirage

we have learned

to manufacture truth

not caring

that facts matter

we are guided by

artificial intelligence

and move about

on autopilot

we rely on relationships

with our voice assistants

i wonder

what does it means

to be human anymore