The Wedding We Streamed

The wedding we streamed—save me a chair.
Dance me around like I'm really there.

My little sister's Saturday,
I'm dressed up in an empty room.
A phone upon a chair in ribbons,
Facing Mama and the groom.
Auntie's thumb covers half the vows;
I hear my mother cry in full.
The picture freezes at the ring.
It comes back dancing round the room.

I touch the screen to make you larger.
It cannot make the distance less.
Then my sister lifts the camera:
"Come with me. You haven't seen the rest."

The wedding we streamed—save me a chair.
Dance me around like I'm really there.
Far from the floor, not out of the frame—
The wedding we streamed, they all sing my name.

Dance me around. (Around the tent.)
Hold me up. (I'm not done yet.)

Dance me around. (Around the tent.)
Hold me up. (I'm not done yet.)

"Here's the cake, and here is Gogo.
Here's the place we kept for you."
My printed face beside the groom—
They've even straightened up my suit.
Two hundred people wave at pixels;
I wave back with both my hands.
Then five percent across the corner;
A cousin runs to find a plug.

The wedding we streamed—save me a chair.
Dance me around like I'm really there.
Far from the floor, not out of the frame—
The wedding we streamed, they all sing my name.

She asks, "You saw the ring?" I tell her,
"No. I lost you for that part."
She holds her left hand to the camera,
Waits till I say, "There you are."

The wedding we streamed—they kept me a chair.
Danced me around till I felt myself there.
I missed some moments, but not all the love.
The wedding we streamed—more than a phone.

They leave me up beside the charger.
"Stay for the last one, brother."