Aivan Karade Should I Archive My Ex? Digital Breakup

The soft-launch started with a photo of a chair
Then a shadow of your hand, then a lock of your hair
We built a museum in a 4x5 square
Now I’m the curator of things that aren't there

Select all Deselect It’s a heavy kind of work
Checking the tags where the memories lurk
Three thousand days in a cloud in the sky
I’m waiting for the Processing circle to die

It’s a clean-up crew for a digital ghost
Turning the us into a single-person post
I’m not deleting, I’m just putting it away
For a version of me on a different day

One click, two click, hide the year
Watch the memories disappear
I’m archiving us, I’m clearing the grid
Hiding the life that we actually lived

The algorithm doesn't know that we’re through
It keeps showing me One Year Ago with you
People you may know—yeah, I knew you the best
Now you’re just a glitch, a recurring test

I’m hiding the highlights, I’m renaming the folder
The phone in my hand feels a hundred years older
The grid is a lie, it’s a beautiful mask
Are you sure you want to do this? the dialog asks

Does it even count if nobody can see?
If there’s no us online, is there even a me?
I’m burying the pixels, I’m silencing the pings
The weight of a thousand intangible things

One click, two click, hide the year
Watch the memories disappear
I’m archiving us, I’m clearing the grid
Hiding the life that we actually lived

Archived
Archived