There are ghost towns
Scattered in fiber optical terrain.
Sites never taken down;
They just remain accessible,
Functional for a lonely few looking for romance.

Souls numbering not more than four
Timidly nestle
Where for a time
Many more boarded.
Enough to require a digital trestle for sustained support.

Commercial offers long expired,
And buttons that blink with superficial, empty enthusiasm
Border tapestries of profiles
And inactive links
Old enough to deserve their retired disposition.

I’ve joined a few myself
Not knowing a population was lacking.
At first blush, one might think
Pirates descended on all the members
And proceeded with ransacking, using tactics of stealth.

For those hoping to find someone
With whom to do the deed,
You might not find even a tumbleweed
While riding your steed
Around the intimate ghost town that is an abandoned dating website.

– Luther Koch