Silent lucidity

We sit silently no one makes a sound No one makes eye contact As if we are oblivious to each other In our own little bubble Some read the metro Some read books Some have music pumping through ear phones Plugged into their ears The bell rings and someone gets off Someone else gets on

A smell of weed floats down the bus We all look up for a moment But this is not enough to break the spell Two people make eye contact A look of panic crosses their face And they quickly look away Pretending it didn’t happen

Afraid that they may have to actually speak Have to Interact with a stranger I so badly want to start up a conversation Engage everybody in a meaningful debate But I don’t have the courage To make that first move

It’s sad that I see these same faces Day in day out And none of us have spoken a single word to each other The only interaction a mumbled good morning Or a silent nod of the head And yet on Facebook and Twitter We talk to complete strangers every day Some on the other side of the world Who We will never have the chance to meet Why can we not talk to the stranger Sitting next to us on the x78?

Has social media really killed conversation?