we did exist once

a short poem for you.

Good morning! Hope you’re having a lovely one. Our kids are on spring break, so I guess that means we are too. Here’s a short poem I wrote, and I’ll be back next week to talk about my creative process.

Do something slow today, be kind to yourself, call your reps, text a friend you haven’t talked to in a little while, and let this be your second reminder to watch the Knicks in the playoffs. The end of Game 2 Monday night was one of the most euphorically surreal and magical comeback sequences I’ve ever witnessed, like a live demonstration of the power of not giving up. Game 3 is tonight!

And now, a short poem for you.

* * *

Ok what if
Just bear with me here
What if we all
Woke up
One day 
And all our phones 
Had

Disappeared

Whoa where is my
Honey did you move my  
Mom do you know where my 
I can’t find mine either 

And we would all flounder
For a while
Go to our laptops
And tablets 
To feel
“Connected”
But then
When we left the house
We’d reach into our
Pockets
Bags
Purses
And find 

Nothing 

And soon maybe 
Sooner even than we’d expect
We’d start to feel 
Relieved 
Our brains 
Filling up 
With 
The world
Around us 
The sky
The tree
Our own footsteps 

We might even start to feel
Ourselves 
Making choices 

That are not just 
Which app
To 
Push
Next 

I don’t wish harm on the phones
Not really
I know I would 
miss mine 
very much 

But we did exist once 
without them
In our pockets 
Our bags 
Our purses 
And we were 
Fine 

Really

We were fine

Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash