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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Social Media (12/01/11)
Vincent questions my friendships
All seven hundred and one of them
He calls them transient and
Accuses me of trading quantity for quality

I collect friends, he says, like he once collected butterflies
He knew his butterflies, Latin names and markings
He asks me what I know of my friends
What names and what markings are real?

Friendship, he says, requires effort
Hourly updates in a status box
And the clever use of punctuation marks
Will never be enough to nourish and sustain it

Vincent finds fault with a community that “chats”
Without reading a person’s mood
Or deciphering their body language
They swap typeface for flesh face

Communities, he says, should be well rounded
Touch and smell, taste, sound and sight
Imparted in equal measure to
Those who live beyond the Facebook family

And when my fragile friendships break – what then?
He points me to a better Friend
Who will carry me on His shoulders
And with His finger brush away my tears



Author’s Note: In a 2009 newspaper article the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, warned that social networking websites, texting and e-mails were undermining community life.
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This article has been read 1237 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Fiona Stevenson
12/15/11
Vincent has a very valid point. How many of these friendships are real? Point taken of the final verse. God bless you.
C D Swanson 
12/16/11
This was not only well written but packed a powerful message straight to the heart! Phenomenal writing and the topic was spot on.

I especially loved the last line. Jesus is our friend for life, for all eternity. Amen.

Thanks. God Bless~
Yvonne Blake 
12/16/11
Part of me agrees with Vincent, but part of me says that some of these friendships are stronger that those of people I see everyday. Of course, no friendship is like ours with the Lord, whether online or in the flesh. Great poem!
Linda Goergen
12/17/11
I agree with Yvonne, in fact a few of my online friends have become face to face friends as we met in person because we became so close on the net. As with most things, there is the bad and the good. But this was certainly well written and portrays a view that many people have of internet friendships.
Cheryl von Drehle
12/17/11
some very provocative pictures here, such as the excellent line "They swap typeface for flesh face"
Verna Cole Mitchell 
12/18/11
Wonderful poem, creative and on-topic.
C D Swanson 
12/29/11
I loved this - I am so glad you made it into the "winner circle." Congratulations on a beautiful piece. God Bless~
Linda Goergen
12/31/11
Congratulations on your win!!!