Entering the Modern Age

Sooner or later it had to happen--

Verizon canceled my ancient line,

And I was forced to modernize.

A "smart" phone now is my constant companion;

I carry it with me wherever I go.

I tend to it like a helpless child:

I answer its every burbling cry;

I stroke it, tickle it, love it dearly.

It has made me popular with strangers,

And it draws the curious to me like flies,

Though it halts me in my tracks too often

And gives me the jitters when I converse

With a new untested infatuation

Who may or may not be truthful and real.

Some--no, many--are simply dabbling

In fantasies, shielded by plastic screens.

Secure in their anonymity,

They strain to make themselves likable

And play-act roles they cannot inhabit

In person, nor would we really want them

To stretch their talents that far, the darlings!

I, least of all, want my privacy damaged

Unless there's some substance behind that smoke.