Screens

There are no maps out here

in the wild blue

–

just oceans of screens

and their masters

–

interfacing in private

in public

–

drooling

like meth addicts

–

indifferent

to the pressure

–

to be normal

like generations past

–

with their rulebooks

and antiquated etiquette

–

ignorant to the blurred line

between real life and netiquette

–

searching for answers

on devices they condemn

–

contradicting themselves

in an attempt to understand

–

just not as well

not nearly as well

–

we’re all out here alone, man

riding our screens

–

like glass bottom boats

on spaces between

***

This is the twenty-second poem of my personal 30-day poetry challenge to break away from the machine to think about things that don’t matter. This poem was inspired by an article in the September 2017 issue of The Atlantic about screen time, written by Jean M. Twenge. I encourage you to read the article. – Jim