Hogmanay

I drink to the hope that the friends of youth may be companions in old age. ~ Robert Burns

Sixty-five years after Bob’s steady girl moved away,
he used the Internet to locate Claire. Today
I led them through their wedding vows.
We connect on social media with friends
and kin we’ve not seen in decades,
bind close to folk we’ve never seen.
Auld land syne, old long since,
we rejoice in friendship bonds,
in ties. Yet addicts, loners,
often hide in pixel-talk, in online chat.
Let us reach out not only with head
and hands, but find a way to claim
real hugs, physical touch, to bind
our open wounds and soothe aching scars.