Downsized
Downsized
The status of our WhatsApp chats—
Inactive.
Headlines read
Thousands of job roles replaced.
Friendships being scaled back—
widely unreported.
Danielle,
my partner in discontent.
Your role, my role in our lives
have been downsized.
The answers to our bitching—
instantly automized.
Digitally,
today, in a two-way exchange,
I’m always the wronged one who's right—
the good guy.
Our chatlog’s reduced to ‘How are you?’
‘Good’
‘Great!’
‘Goodbye.’
Biography: Born and raised in Los Angeles, Michael Roque began writing poetry and prose while studying at Pasadena City College. He has been based in the Middle East since 2013. He is the author of Writing to a Raid Siren (Pomegranate Press). His work has appeared in literary journals including North Dakota Quarterly, The Queen’s Review, The Roanoke Rambler, Poetry Super Highway, and BlazeVOX.
Image: Unsplash, downloaded (https://unsplash.com/photos/person-holding-black-android-smartphone-ZKNuSabOW6Y) 6. 10. 2026.
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