Chat Room

The imaginary room
where I meet my imaginary friends
and we go on for hours and hours
sending text hugs, smilies and fake flowers
pretending to love each other
from the safety of our homes
found in locations all over the world.

Although its been nearly three years
I still find the technology fascinating
(the conversation, at times, quite stimulating)
the potential of the medium quite captivating
and the thrill of meeting new people
from all over the world
quite exhilarating.

Yet I try to never lose sight of the fact
that what I see
are all just electronic avatars
computer generated fascimiles of people
total strangers
living who-knows-where doing God-knows-what
most of whom will never cross each other's path.

In truth
for most of my online existence
I've never wanted it to be any other way.

But every now and then
even in the emotionless, desensitized, artificial realm of cyberspace
amidst the innocent,
the naive,
the obnoxious,
the overzealous,
the undercover hackers,
the undiscovered stalkers
the all around ne'er-do-wells
even though handicapped by the persistent superficiality
prevalent throughout the medium
forced upon its participants
by rules that hinder real discussion
and surrounded by people
who encourage you to go along to get along
and who discourage any attempt at independent thought
even in this remote intellectual wasteland
every now and then
you can find someone
who can change your life for the better.
Someone you'll cherish meeting forever.

To that someone
who has managed to make me believe
in things I swore were never possible
until the instant our paths crossed
in a chat room
to that person
I pray that I have made their lives better
I hope that I have made their days brighter.
To that someone
I say
Thank you.