A Poem by Dr. Barry Lubetkin / New York City
I am not as old
As you make me feel
You exasperating demons of the digital age.
Your youthfulness suffocates my wisdom
As you cavort on TikTok
With influencers, improvisers
And imposters.
Your fingers fly over the keys with unyielding dexterity.
While my arthritis freezes me
To a one-digit dance.
You match and rematch
And swipe with erotic abandon
While I struggle to keep a friend or two
Alive in my mind for another year.
I delighted in Polaroids
That after a one-minute pause
Yielded a lifetime memory,
While you Instagram the most intimate poses
That spit on the concept
Of intimacy.
And you support your crew to
Explore every crevice
Of the social-media universe
While I bake in the crowded
Basement of Apple
Waiting for a so-called Genius
To explain for the third time
How to cut and paste.
But perhaps, just perhaps
I’m not as old as you
Make me feel.
A lifetime of struggling for
Authenticity
Frees me to share my pain
Openly
Can you?
Barry Lubetkin, Ph.D. is the co-director and co-founder of the Institute for Behavior Therapy in New York City. The Institute for Behavior Therapy is the oldest private cognitive behavior center in the United States.