Saturday

Captured byTechnology


I often think back to times of days passed...
The messages would wait, the moments would last...
No interruption, fully immersed...
Deep concentration, deeply converse...
It used to be, if no one was home,..
You'd call later, hoping they'd pick up the phone...
In the late 80's you'd leave message on a tape...
After you called, then you'd then have to wait...
For them to get home, to hit play and listen...
It was exciting to see the light blink and glisten...
Then we used pay phones to call on the line...
Checking our messages through the grapevine...
Along came pagers, a number on the screen...
To another pay phone to see what it means...
Then alphanumeric, a 'call center text'...
To get a full message, cool, what's next?
A personal cell phone, size of a brick...
Analog numbers, they were cool as shit...
Smaller and smaller, they fit in a pocket...
Charge in the car or in a wall socket...
Itty bitty, a phone with a flip...
Careful now, don't let it slip...
In a matter of years the smart phone came to be...
The beginning of the end of a society...
I notice people everywhere I go...
Always texting, they can never be 'alone'...
Walking through the mall, eyes no longer meet...
They're all looking down, at their palms at their feet...
Thumbs racing, a message cannot wait any longer...
Society is weaker, it's not getting any stronger...
Out to eat, people on their phones...
No conversation, only mental drones...
Eyes glossy, reflecting the screen...
Human interaction, what does it mean?
Captured by technology, "let me look it up"...
The www. at our fingers, it should be a cup...
Filled with cheer, smiles and toasts...
Sharing moments, the bad and the boasts...
What scares me more, are the children...
When I was little, it was different then...
I'd go outside, feel the sun...
Play, ride a bike, go out and run...
Now they have iPads, watching cartoons...
Parents don't get that they'll be grown so soon...
The babysitter 'technology' to keep them busy...
Sometimes it just makes me feel lost and dizzy...
Show them the world, the flowers the trees...
Let them hear birds sing and the buzz of the bees...
Don't get me wrong, I love all my tech...
But I do my best to keep reality in check...
I am guilty of stopping to Google that thought...
To text home to see what needs to be bought...
Checking email, Facebook, the farm....
Seems so innocent, in reality, harm?
Shopping online, sigh, I love it too...
Look, add and pay, it's on the way to you...
I market, I Etsy, I Instagram and I Pin...
 I tumblr, I Blogger, I Google +, I linkedin...
The more 'in touch' we get, the farther we are from reality...
Despite it all, to the future I do not hold a master key...
We are evolving, at warp speed into super tech...
Hopefully we'll find balance and not create a super wreck...
Alethea Anderson © 2016

(Sorry about the spacing, Blogger is going wacky and though it's correct in the editing screen, it's coming across horribly spaced when posted...)