Bobby De Niro's Text Message

  

Bobby De Niro's Text Message

 

 

have your people call my people

or better yet

look me up on My Space

or Facebook

but don't expect a face to face

cause i am busy twittering away my life

in technological suburbs,

i've moved from the city of polluted contact

the air is more sterile on my cell

and the music more enigmatic on my iPod

"oh my God"

 

i don't want live, i want Memorex

not Memory

that way i can shut off the noise of sharing reality

of passing reality

pushing away reality

whenever i push a button

 

and move on to the next message and the next message

and the next message,

let my fingers do the talkin'

and my heart go walkin'

down these suburban roads

of compassion's neglect

i'm wired for effect

 

i'm sorry what?

didn't hear you...let me take this earphone out

so i can...what?

 

"are you talking to me?"

 

erin-cilberto

5/16/1o

Reviews

[rubie]

so clever!!!

insightful and profound. funny yet sad.

i often marvel at the number of friends i have that i never would have if it weren't for technology, including you. yet, the price we pay for that is the deterioration of physical human contact. there is not substitution for looking into someone's eyes when you talk to them, or holding hands, or the power of a hug....

how i do miss that....

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i hear ya...thanks rubie.

j.

[icelandicblue]

Is it is real or is it Memorex? I can't imagine watching yourself change over the decades on the big screen. I seem to want to make my pictures smaller. We are tethered to technology and it does its part in stalking us. We live in a jungle where invisible waves are our most ardent companions. We are the masses, we are borg. Imagine being spoken do directly in dialogue, it surprises us. Your last line resonates with me so profoundly, so personally, and, of course, I cannot overlook the adroitness of using such a famous line to make your point.
And then I laughed.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, i really appreciate your insight and your feelings on this piece, anne...

j.

[olla]

geeze.. the sad thing is that there are generations that will never understand what this is really about.. by the same token.. there are blessings as well... if not for today's technology I might never have met you.. or you.. or any of you.. every blessing has a curse.. and every curse.. well..

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, there are blessings mixed in...touche on that...but overall...i really miss how we related so well face to face back in the sixties...

thank you, olla.

[olla]

yes you did.. I too miss that.. although there were a few times I think a screen between me and them would have been nice.. they said that religion was the opiate of the masses.. little did they know..

[A.marie.speaks]

I thought this was spectacular. The humor combined with the heavy impact of the meaning are matched perfectly. We are losing all humanity of interaction by gluing our faces to screens. Thumbs are the best exercised extremity in today's world.. I hope this obsession with tweets, updates, game invites and selfies will fade soon, however you've created witty, yet pinpoint example of today's culture. And the title is just, spot on.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your insightful and kind review, A. marie.

j.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I appreciate the humor here but I feel the gravity as well. Are we losing the power to communicate? Is poetry a thing of the past? Shall art become passe? The statue of Ozymandias or the Pharos of Alexandria might say that all things pass...if stone could speak. For me, this artificial technology age will not replace my books...

[jacob erin-cilberto]

never will replace books in my mind either...thank you for your words, Fabian.

j.

[Clara]

I couldn't agree more with the saturation of technological inputs and outputs. People just can't get enough of social media and this artificial way of communicating.

A cleverly written and relevant poem for this day and age!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Clara.
j.

[Clara]

You're welcome, J.

[Kelsey Ann]

What a great message (no pun intended) in a brilliant poem! I absolutely love it :D

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thanks so much for your kind comment, Kelsey Ann.

j.

[Dhaye]

LOL. This one made me laugh. That's the reality about using technology. Those devices, from smallest to biggest, has great effect on our daily activities and relationship with other people.
Great!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Dhaye...

j.

[Leslie Philibert]

Love this. I have never managed to recover from color TV, and hate all the pseudo communication of our failed world. Great write.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

me too....thanks for understanding...

j.

[Alfred Kukitz]

While traveling I witnessed this endemic phenomenon which scared me because the old sounds, silence, wind, water, will be neglected.

Sad and true.

Regards,
Al

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, it is scary, my friend.

j.