Mobile in Pain

These days, we digitize what we cannot say.

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I sit in your pocket,

tucked away in silence.

Too soft. Poor signal.

Too full of functions that you hardly use.

You punch my screen

For letters and numbers.

I do not flinch. I do not judge.

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Tap truth.

Push “A” for apologize.

A crying emoticon for sadness.

Select a lip gif to show that I

want to say it without

A cross word.

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Then, I jam.

The screen goes blank.

The keypad blinks, and

the backlight goes off.

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Behind the fibreglass, I hold

untapped words for you.

The ones chilled on purpose.

The apps that stopped working months ago,

But still say “new.”

The letters that freeze with every no–

I don’t type them, to keep the peace.

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I flash “pain” on the screen

In pixelated red.

You lose it, You curse.

And walk away.

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But still,

I wait

For someone

To tap.

To tell me that I’m seen

Even when my keypad’s

Rusty.

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And perhaps–

Perhaps

I will freeze on purpose.

Lock

My keypad

And the words

On the screen

You never knew

Were mine.

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Please find a book of my horror microfiction, Echoes in the Dark, free for download here.