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# Buffering
- URL: https://dianaludwick.com/buffering/
- Published: 2026-02-09T21:04:28.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:11:59.000Z
- Description: “Buffering,” a question of next steps and outcomes. Written February 9, poem 040 in a series of 365 poems written by Diana Ludwick in 2026. Photo by SB Ducey; edited by Diana Ludwick (c) 2026.
- Author: Diana Ludwick
- Tags: 2026 Poetry Challenge, Poems, #Migrated-1792872215677, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-24 20:03

Our country and its cultures,  
we are Buffering.  
  
We are caught between  
loading our future  
and letting go of the past.  
  
We sit, stare and wait  
willing the clarity to come  
and yet the picture  
is pixelated, scrambled.  
  
We should know that  
a half-ready video link  
observed with impatient eyes  
will never load.  
  
We could stay   
motionless  
and watch the   
Loading   
Loading   
Loading  
symbol spin  
indefinitely.  
  
Or, we could  
push out of the chair  
and find the path forward  
ourselves.  
  
The answer is out there  
not in our screens.