Before We Put the World in Our Pocket

We watched the raindrops on the window and stared into space in line at the bank

Little did we know that boredom was the freedom of an uncluttered mind

We got our evening news from the serious adults behind the anchor desk

Little did we know that news would fracture into dubious clips and blurbs

We hung out at the mall with our friends laughing like hooligans

Little did we know that staying in the moment with friends would be a struggle

We waited until our high school reunion to catch up after graduation

Little did we know we’d get constant updates from everybody we ever met

We stressed out about pop quizzes and what we’d do when we grew up

Little did we know how much tyranny and genocide we could absorb every day and still show up for work