In the virtual world
I somehow am real
I add to myself 
All the time
Without problem.

In the real world
I am less successful.
Less attention is paid
And I walk the streets of
My own city
Unrecognized.

Praise is nice
And virtual praise also 
Something I suppose
But a real embrace is 
Something different.

One day soon too perhaps, you say,
Virtual embraces will 
Be more than real ones
But it hasn't happened yet.

As it is now 
I am more real 
In the virtual world
Than in the real one.

No wonder 
I spend so much 
Of my time here
Writing to strangers 
Who have never smiled at me
And who I too am not 
Really in touch with. 

Shalom Freedman