Old News

Composed 8/28/17
Description: Inspired by life and today’s Daily Prompt: Magnetic.

I get new things
When they’re old news
Technology, trends six months overdue
Modern marvels are standard fare
Before I dare
To roll the dice or break the ice

Harry Potter, Game of Thrones,
Cell phones, smart phones,
Weezer, fidget spinners,
Driving, wearable technology, about a thousand movies,
Facebook, Snapchat, (and all social media at that)

Such things
I resist
In some inbred dislike of popularity
A posh, misguided judgment stemming
From an unjustified sense of superiority

But in the end my resistance snaps like a rubber band
I can’t resist the magnetic pull
And I dive in
Consistently
Late to the party
A Starbucks carrying straggler to destiny
That I actually end up enjoying

Lord knows this habit will one day be deadly
High tech gas masks that are #trending
Will send me out to the wilderness waiting
For radiation to take its toll
And pride to eat away my soul

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An Evening (in three parts)

Composed 4/4/16
Description: A belated entry for day 3 of NaPoWriMo. Today, a true and tragic tale…

I. Frustration

It starts with nail art
An oft fatal enterprise with
A high polish casualty rate

Despite recent failures I dive for
Denial and blame
Of brand name
Donning prestigious, new weaponry I
Strike again

Sadly similar failures occur
Polish too light means too many coats and
Social duties call and
A swift hand through jacket sleeve brings
Misery, catastrophic destruction

With minutes to spare I
Jump into high light I make
Hasty adjustments
I plunge into rumored territory and dunk
My hands in ice cold water to speed the dry
Surprisingly that
That’s legit

But bumps and a few tacky nails mean
I venture out in caution and insecurity
By the time I sit with food on my plate
Dryness has come
Danger has ceased
Yet
Yet that
Is only the beginning

II. Respite

A small time of calm before the storm
Then back I venture to my homeland to
Partake in needed productivity
Should be a swift polish, a print
Such naivety

My computer fails to register
The importance of final papers
Or my printer
Even the main PC fails me

Technological father figure to the rescue!
He connects, shows me the craft
My computer still denies however
The fatherboard finds our sacrifice worthy
A paper printed
An evening of success?

III. Blood

A wad of blood, sweat, and tears in my palm
I reach for a reliable friend
The stapler

He gags at the treat
Makes half-hearted chomps and spits
Out his metal teeth
I blame a lacking grip

But alas!
A repeated failure despite determination
And
And what’s this!
A red smuge blurs the cover page
With a mocking boldness
Red icing!

Bloodied, ruined
I run back to the main computer for a reprint
This occurs
I return to my desk
A binder clip in hand
As I make the motion
RED ICING
How did this happen? I’ve not touched a thing!

Grumbly now I
Meekly return
Request further use of my father’s technology
But the printer has tired of my shenanigans
It blocks the signal
OFFLINE
NOT CONNECTED

I work the craft of connectivity
One
Two times
My father is bothered again and tries
Three
Four
Power button off and on

Minutes and minutes of
Tense frustration
Lead to final relief
It is finished

I return to the room of high lights
As a final deed to make my evening seem
Worthwhile
I polish up my polish
Use my new cheat code
And notice red on my face
I’m bleeding!
Why am I bleeding?
Wait no
Cake frosting

I suspect ghosts
Or demons

The Fight

Composed 1/12/15
Description: A little before Christmas I received my very first smartphone as a Christmas present. Yes, I’m 23 and just got a smartphone. What? I liked my little Alias 2! That’s a cool phone!

But besides the fear of ditching my longtime, very reliable “dumb” phone, I was worried that I would be faced with many distractions once in possession of a smartphone. I’m already an Internet addict, but I rather disliked the idea of technology creeping in on my social interactions. So is the smartphone a distraction? Yes. But…

He steals my eyes from yours
so I cannot see your smile
your grief
He steals my hands
from the touch of friends
and worse he steals my mind
filling it with preoccupations
that have nothing to do with the observations of my loved ones
Surely he’s stolen opportunities for connection
with family or with strangers
but

Hasn’t he also given me a chance
to see your face?
To reach out and comfort my dear far friends?
Flood my mind with the warmth
of your unexpected words
so that I may think of nothing else?
To speak
make connections with some I may never or rarely meet?

Perhaps…
it is all about
balance

Allure

Composed 4/25/14
Description: (Day 25 of NaPoWriMo) Busiest. Day. Ever. Test, event planning, event carryout, cleanup… And finally relaxing at Steak & Shake with friends. It was actually this last adventure that inspired today’s poem.

She swipes her fingers
Across glittering jewels it’s
Her new addiction

Stupid Phone

Composed 4/10/14
Description: (Day 10 of NaPoWriMo) “I have to write a poem today,” I tell my friend. “Give me a topic.” She shakes her phone in her hands (it’s been malfunctioning all day). “Stupid phone,” she replies.

Childish rhyme when silence pursues
Keeping quiet when its track I lose
Changing AM, PM too
(Missed a test and now I’m screwed)
Damn it
Stupid phone

Buzzes so hard it crashes down
Right off the desk in front of a crowd
Signal lost when I’m lost downtown
(And Lord knows there aren’t payphones around)
Damn it
Stupid phone

Battery flickers when I need
To send a message of urgency
And when it sends then I see
I told my friend I just bought pee
Damn it
Stupid phone