alive?

Walking around through life today
looking for a life of meaning,
I’m watching people and wonder:
Does it seem we’re all play-acting?

I’m led to believe it’s all a game
with dressed up images and plastic smiles.
A mask of confidence to brave the world,
fulfillment found in the emptiness.

Returning home to a small cocoon,
the private inner-world to create sanity.
Obsessed with pets and mindless TV,
living vicariously, dreams of adventure.

Hiding away behind a confident mask
they’re pretending to be fully alive,
but I see the fear behind their eyes
when I give them my smile of freedom.

What are they hiding? What’s the fear?
That keeps them living smaller lives?
Keeping them down and all alone?
Our communities crack from disconnect.

In the city so big, pockets collapse
as people move real life offline,
with virtual communities and relationship,
sitting alone in front of a computer.

There is nobody warm and caring,
to laugh and cry in complete humility.
The cynical existence replaced authenticity,
hidden and protected behind the screen.

Who am I now, what is missing?
The void inside screaming all the while;
to feel another presence connected deeply;
to know I am here and really alive.