the kids dont

the kids don’t fall in love
like they used to
don’t Jlo Miami Glow
spritz their love notes
don’t pass love notes
hand written

kids these days
send texts at a distance
love
is way less exciting
wrapped up in
digital addiction
let the vibrate go off
and beg to see his name
if only for an instance

then wait
play attachment theories
at their bestest
and when things go sour
delete message threads
to leave no trace behind
move on
to the next digits

kids these days
only know digits
can’t recall paper folded
fortune tellers
don’t fly paper airplanes
don’t M.A.S.H.
their futures
bright
or grim
14 kids and counting

kids these days
don’t
peppermint patty
don’t know how her story goes
that day she was walking
don’t secret handshake
and spin
end it with a five
then a ten
don’t dance on the playground
for no one to witness but them

only live for tik tok and viral
when the likes stop
they’ll spiral

one day kids these days
will be too old
to go back
to feel their hand glide across paper
to love the feeling of scissors cutting it crisp
along the dotted line
to learn their favorite pen
is blue b.i.c
cheap
none of that sharpie gel smooth shit
none of that books live in kindle shit

kids these days
might never miss libraries
the smell of old books gone stale
dates stamped on the inside cover
revealing last time it’s pages got touched

kids these days
leave so much untouched
never stealing raspberries from neighbors’ bushes
never hopping fences for balls
never thrown

We grieve for kids these days
that lose their youth these ways

and they’ll never get it back.