driving home to you
unfortunately I died
~ text said I love you


driving and texting
new car for graduation
~ hi guys guess what I'm


busy city streets
need to text spouse I'll be late
~ pedestrian hit


can't wait to see you
didn't see car stopped ahead
~ text never sent




© 2020 Mark Toney.  All rights reserved.

https://www.stoptextsstopwrecks.org

Apparently now
If you end a text message with a period
It means you’re *******
Because who needs a period
When each of your utterances
Is circumscribed
By a thought bubble

At least that’s what I heard
On a podcast
(I’m an old)

So if I text you
And use punctuation
Will you take offense?

Will you be able to tell
My old-school emojis
From that punctuation?

I certainly hope so :-/

I wait for your reply
I am a puppy dog
Seemingly naive to the time passing by
But the tick-tock rattles to my very teeth
Please undo the collar
Unbuckle my leash
I wag when you enter, cry when you leave
What else could you want from me?
I need attention
I want to run free
Or, you could give me some affection...
Just hit send
And that would put my suffering to an end

That message I sent
On a random cosy night
Laying in my bed
And you gave it a sight
From a single dm
To texting every day
Those Long WhatsApp VNs
Gosh we had so much to say
That was all we had
In this modern-day

Maybe I'll never forget
That wink emoji you sent
Nothing ever made me blush
And forget everything that I had to vent

Hugging you for that one last time
Pretending for a moment that you were mine
Life is quite strange these days
Technology holds the power to your smile in so many different ways

For you aren't around now yet
Each memory we shared stays
In my heart and amidst my gallery in a phase
Covering everything from where we ate to where we met

Sometimes I'll stare at the sky
Wondering what would make you smile
Asking my self just the reason why
Are you away from me, a thousand miles

Is this the fate of our lasting bond
one side breaks apart and another one responds
was it the situation or the distance at play
for us not texting each other throughout the day

Maybe expecting that notification is my definite mistake
for not everyone can live up to this false piece of cake
There's not a day where I don't think of you
not an effort gone by where I wish all this was still new

It's strange how quickly special turns to normal these days
what once meant the world to me is now just a blurry haze
Despite all this, I shall keep waiting each day
for you to be back in just the same way

Those Long WhatsApp VNs
Gosh we had so much to say
That was all we had
In this modern-day

For every response left unread.
For every thought trapped in my head.
For the way you make me feel.
Decrypt if it's fake or if it's real.

It's hard to explain a feeling you don't quite know yourself.

Understanding your own mind can be tricky sometimes.

We don't quite know each other yet, despite that fact.

I still feel comfortable to talk to you.

 it feels like we have already had a wonderful first date, a romantic second, and our third wasn't the best but we are both don't care because we are spending it together.

 It makes me nervous, not knowing if you imagine the same thing.

That's why I panic when I talk to you, not knowing if the thing I just said was good enough.

so I say something new before you can type back, and believing that isn't good enough so I repeat the cycle.

Becoming stuck in a whirlpool of my own anxiety and overthinking, just because I don't want to miss my chance at that bad third date.

I don't want to miss the chance to stare at you, on a night not going as planned, but still being able to smile when I look at you.

I'm sorry I'm not good at talking, but I promise you would enjoy my rambling and awkwardness if you gave it a shot.

don't ******* text your friends while
you're ******* driving and now
i'm this close to throwing your phone
out the window and into the highway so
put your phone down because
i'm trying to talk to you
and right now i'm trying to ******* say
that you shouldn't ******* text your friends
when you're behind the wheel
because you can crash and **** someone
and you're important to me
and i don't ******* want you or me to die
and if you're important to me then
i'm willing to spend my ******* time on you
and when i spend my time on someone
i'm pretty much just spending my ******* money
and you already know that most of the time
i don't have any ******* money and if i did
i would be spending that money on sunshine
and time to try and make us happier so
if you don't like what i have to offer
then i'm telling you to say ******* to my offer
and to stop being a coward and
to tell me how you really feel or
just get the hell out of here because
if you're wasting my money already
i refuse to let you waste my ******* time because
i've already spent years wasted on you
but you won't ******* love me back
the way i ******* love you and
instead every single time when
i want to leave you just have to pull me back
because you think that it's a great
decision to drag me along to
all of your ******* adventures with
all of your ******* friends and
all of your ******* boyfriends only
to ******* tell me that i never
really stood a chance with you
and that you just want us to be friends
but clearly you don't even understand how
to ******* be friends with someone
because if you ******* did you would be
talking to me in the car right now
and not texting your friends and
flirting with me nonstop and
i wouldn't have to be ******* remind you
how ******* dangerous it is
to text and drive.

I don't care,
About the other messages;
Popping up,
At the top of my screen.

I just want to stay here,
And wait;
For your next message,
To come in.

I wait up till 12 at night
Just to see if you'll reply.
I remember every text
All the secrets that we told.
I feel so scared to open up,
Do you feel scared too
Or is this just you?
Am I another text in the night?
Are these just pixels, not feelings?
We send and received,
There's a time stamp on our moments.

Please will you stay up with me at 12 at night
And say goodnight