This is a poem from the Aardvark forthcoming Postmodernity Anthology about telephonic angst.
The
old dog 'n' bone
'Message failed'
greyed out phone
connection lost
in a dead zone
Emergencies Only
Number Not Known
No Signal Here
I feel so alone
treated so bad by
the old dog and bone
Close to the edge
trip over a stone
a week in a well
sorry to moan
but I daren't go out
all on my own
risking life 'n' limb
without my phone
I can't go out
patience wearing thin
I take the battery out
and I put it back in
but it still won't work
There's no connection
I can call no-one
I've got no protection
I'm feeling insecure
adrift in inner space
a free floating terror
of the whole human race.
Close to the edge
trip over a stone
a week in a well
sorry to moan
but I daren't go out
all on my own
risking dire disaster
without my phone
Aaaran Aardvark February 2014
Outstanding poetics, AA! It is amazing any of us ever survived as kids and young adults in our salad days without having a phone clipped to our belts. Nowadays I wouldn't be without one, given all the potential pitfalls of a vehicle breakdown or my suddenly getting an unexpected "hot tip" on a dog race in Florida and require a "mobile" to contact my turf accountant.*
ReplyDelete*Well, if I had a "bookie".
I certainly wouldn't use my land line to call the guy up and risk my insurance payment money since the call would be on the monthly bill, and the Misses goes over such things and you talk about "risking dire disaster".
Good stuff, AA, thanks for sharing this.
Thanks Doug....I am sometimes astounded by my own courage when I think of all the times I roamed far and wide with no instant means of contacting vital others, no lifeline to emergency services, the family, friends, bookies, even complete strangers they were once all beyond reach. I really take my hat off to us back then Doug fearlessly going to the supermarket without a thought of what would happen if one of our loved ones needed to talk to somebody fast...what a crazy ten thousand generations we all were before Motorola Samsung and Blackberry finally made it safe to go outside. Now we are all tracked by the NSA we are never alone like we used to be, loneliness has been banished forever thanks to digital technologies, spy satelites in the sky, the endless surveillance and monitoring and blanket cover CCTV...Oh yes Doug, we have a lot to be grateful for....well I think so...well errrrrm?
ReplyDeleteSpot on, AA. Gratitude might be a strong term Sad, really, to think, for example, that neither Napoleon nor Lord Wellington had a cell phone to search out four-star restaurant choices for that all-important after-battle "fete" near the battlefields of Waterloo. No wonder they talked about "the fog of war" in those days. But I digress...
DeleteYou're right , we all are the "stars" of the NSA 's own uncut remake of Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita". Only a citizen of the modern "communications" society will only see the "premiere" if he or she gets in real trouble.
Ugh, I hate cell phones and I forget to charge mine up half the time. And usually it is not turned on anyway, so no one can call me on it. On the other hand, I suppose it is a handy tool if I were to break down or fall in a well somewhere .........IF the battery was charged that is.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite the poet dear AA . I do expect more from you.
xoxo
I hope you never breakdown or fall in a well with or without your phone Lia, but handy tools are always good news, I hope yours serves you well :-) xx
ReplyDelete