In today’s society something is missing,
the art of conversation.
Nearly everyone forty and under
has a phone in their hand,
call It a mobile or a cell
it doesn’t matter which.
They use it twenty-four seven
not only for talking, but texting.
You see them in a restaurant
texting the person opposite only a foot away.
They say they do it because of the noise
and the noise they refer to is other phones ringing.
However, they don’t realise just how silly they look.
What could take a few minutes
takes more minutes to text.
Sometimes they even forget what they are eating
and pop their phone in their mouth.
A phone doesn’t taste as nice as a juicy sirloin steak.
When they order their phone,
they could order different colours.
Brown like gravy,
red like tomato sauce,
yellow like mustard
and put them all on their steak
like a deck of cards,
then shuffle them as they wait
for the next text to arrive.
Silly yes and maybe one day
they’ll look around at everyone
fiddling with their phones
and realize just how funny they look
and the art of conversation
may come back again.
Fingers crossed that might happen
and instead of them thinking to themselves
that I’m never alone with a phone.


(9 July 2011)

David Harris

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-art-of-conversation-fun-poem-126/