Sometimes Texting Breaks Down

Sometimes Texting Breaks Down

Sometimes texting breaks down,
falls apart
like pizza dough
too thin or too dry:
unsustainable.

I write: “want to see the grand-kids,
hear about NH”

And he writes: “Come Tuesday afternoon”

I write: “have to see Dr.Nussbaum at 5:30PM”

He writes: “Need help all day Thursday”

I write: “Could come after the 10AM appointment with
Dr. McPherson on Thursday but still want to see them on Tuesday
Could bring lunch, pay for painters
and bring some things we bought, eg. cat food”

He writes: “If it’s wet food,
we don’t give the cats wet food.”

And therein, the text breaks down!

We fed them when they were away in N.H.
Brought delectable helpings of Fancy Feast
and filled their little dishes for a week.
Finally, Don bought more, a whole carton,for 2 cats, for another six days.
We had the return date wrong, misinterpreted
the tiny empty cat dishes calling to the grandparents.

Once again, our lavish style,
our opulence spreads over their spartan life.

We have to let go the lunch, the Tuesday visit, the curiosity,
the vacation report, the August week’s growth
upon the one and three year old.

We’re back to begging
for an audience with the Pope of Austerlitz:
ashamed, trepid, tip-toeing on our way to grand-child’s house
with home-made swings, biking paths, dog and cats,
and modest ways

compared to ours:
antique
electronic, compulsive, earthy, expansive, exorbitant,
generous,
sugar-coated Nanna Jeanne and Don!

Fiber Optic Time vs Organic Time

Yesterday on the Poetry Blog http://poetryadvocates.wordpress.com/author/poetryadvocates/
I ordered 2 books:
p*tag anthology of poetry for teens, edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong,
PoetryTagTime anthology for children.
Today there was an email from Nook telling me I could have a new textbook app for free and the 2 books advertised
were the 2 I ordered for $.99 and $1.99. So I opened my Nook and read them delightedly.When I tried to find them in June, they weren’t ready. Then today, Instant Gratification! Fast Food for the Soul!

Fiber Optic Time vs Organic Time
Which is real?

Electronic fiber optics
Info blips
Instantaneously.
The pace of electronics
Pulses
Blasts
Beeps.

While my body needs 12 hours of silence
To reconfigure
Cells.
Detoxify.
Needs me to turn off.
Get out.
Close down.
To begin
And complete
Its reset.
Recreation.
Renewal.
No drums here.
No humming.
The music of birthing every night.
Darkness and silence required.

9/29/2011
by Jeanne Poland

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