DISCONNECTED: A POEM FOR THESE TIMES

DISCONNECTED

I connect via pixels on the computer screen,

And disembodied voices on the phone,

Pinging from cell tower to cell tower.

I miss warm hugs with family and friends.

Virtual hugs just aren’t the same

As a good bear hug.

I yearn to reach through the screen and touch those pixels,

Hoping they will transform into

A body I can touch, a hand I can hold.

And, then there’s the warning that pops up on my screen:

“Your internet connection is unstable.”

No, I want to say.  It’s being disconnected that’s unstable.

Yet, I do have my body.

The ground under my feet.

A warm purring cat at my side.

I remember to breathe, to feel,

And connect to what is real.

Right now in this very moment.

© 2020 Beth S. Patterson.  All Rights Reserved.