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 Struggling with Facebook? Become a better singer in 30 days with these videos!

I discovered Facebook
In 2008
After I'd been fired for the first
And so far only time
I was at home
Licking my wounds
On unemployment
Putting the final touches
Paint and wainscoting and such
On the new basement suite
That overran its estimated cost
And left us with our line of credit
Maxed out
Allegations of child molestation
Broiled at my old work
And reached my ear
So I called the police
Even though
I worried it might just look like retribution
I was interviewed
For three hours
By a child exploitation officer
All I could tell him
Was hearsay
And ultimately
No one was charged
Because the people who
Told me things
Or who apparently told other people
Things
Which they then told me
Didn't want to tell
Anyone else
Because it turned out
When they considered everything
They'd rather just move on
And so did I
But someone I'd hired
Who was also fired
Got a lawyer
And I figured
I'd only live once
I'd never sued anyone
So maybe I should
Give it a try
I was downloading
National Public Radio podcasts
About the US primaries
Onto the iPod my brother
Had given to my parents as a gift
And they gave it to me
After not using it for a couple years
Headphones on
Painting walls in the basement
Of our home in Canada
While thinking
My native country
Wasn't ready
To nominate
Let alone elect
A black man
Even if he was a caramel
Nerdy beanpole
And then I cried
When I was wrong
About America and Obama
I finally had a new job
And got a settlement
From the old one
That seemed hardly worth
The trouble
Then on the second day at the new job
More allegations of child molestation
That I had to say something about again
Even though the person who had told the person
Who told me
Didn't want to say anything to anyone else
Someone was asked to resign
And they did
And probably went off to find
Another job
Working with other kids
When browsers got tabs
One was always filled with Facebook
And I'd sit looking at my timeline update
With hundreds of missives
From dozens of acquaintances from my childhood
One sent me scans of every article
I ever wrote
Or that had been written about me
In high school
Including the article
I'd never seen
That graced the front page
Of the school's paper
When I was expelled
Then, in 2011
I shut down my Facebook account
I didn't delete it
It's probably still there
Longing for me in 2016
These couple days after Trump
Was elected to follow Obama
But I made a new account
Just for work
So I could manage pages
For the youth health centre
I helped to found
And the youth empowerment
Social change project
I created and ran for two and a half years
That I'm just now wrapping up
And for the youth-elder partnership program
I started after that
An employee of which
Contacted me the night before the election
To tell me a youth told her
Someone else
They'd been chatting with
On Facebook
Was talking about walking in front of a train
I didn't have any friends
On my work Facebook account
But I added the youth
Who was talking about walking
In front of a train
A couple days later
After the election
He added me back
So now
The only life I see on my timeline
Is his
Meandering on

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