The New Necessity

'Over-share is the new necessity',
she said to me,
over coffee

and it got me
thinking about the ways we
expose ourselves

(or at least the selves we
want others to see)

as we writhe
like flies
in this sticky web.

Do our words leave us so very naked?
And is it so very brave
to bare our petty thoughts

when we have sat back
with our feet in the stirrups
of modern gynaecology

seen our insides
on a big screen

when we have stood shivering
in front of charcoal and texter gripping
scribblers?

when we have shared glances
(and fluids)
and words that although not immortalised
in carefully chosen fonts
are printed brutally on our souls
forever?

what then is the meaning
of what we type
and tweak
and press 'send'
'publish post'
or 'share'?

Are we really sharing so very much?

And what makes this sharing
seem so necessary?

Or is it the things
said flippantly
across dinner tables
over coffee
unedited,
uncontrived,
that we
truly need?