SIGH......you have such a way with words.

One thing that I really admire about this piece is level of face-to-face it is (If that makes sense). The objects you bring into these different scenes really add to the feel of apathy as well, like the bottles, the vending machine, this person on the other side of that screen, et cetera. Fantastic.

Such a gorgeous piece. So natural and ordinary it stands out ( if that makes sense). The background, the peoples reactions, even the objects in the room are all thinge we can equate with in normal life thus making it all seem so real.

I love the sense of couldn't-care-less that you portray too. That feeling of whatever you try things were never going to work so why not just accept it and let the world go on around you.

Love it :)

Very nice poem.

Agree with so much of what has already been mentioned, from it being a face-to-face and a part of ordinary life. The perspective you took made me think of high school and how there were still cliques. It seemed people rushed together to have a seat next to each other, in fear they would have to sit at another end or a completely different table. People clung to each other, I felt like. This sad, lonely tone reaches out to me, especially that desire to look in the eye of another person. Perhaps a familiar person, or to make friends. I know I remember the awkward feeling of sharing a table with students from another grade or students I didn't know too well if my friends were at another lunch or were late. Although I was more on the quiet side, I feel sort of bad for not always prompting conversations... because you never know who is alone and who doesn't have someone to look forward to eating with each day.

Also, should "bending machines" be "vending machines"?

With your next stanza and mentioning exams, that exhaustion is certainly felt... then much more depth in the third stanza where you reveal the "him", and that hurt is so tangible. The way you connect that loneliness to lack of energy and no commitment to this relationship, it's meaningful and I thank you for sharing this write. I'm sorry you had to go through or are still trying to deal with that time. Hope writing helps a bit.

Honestly, a delicious collaboration of words ..