LONG OVERDUE? /EAT OR BE EATEN
I sit here waiting On my mobile As the phone company Directs me through, Hastily excited By a potential sale To the correct sales department I take in And contemplate upon Which new phone model I might acquire As the ambient notes Permeate my mind Drifting back… To my school days Perhaps the summer of 86 Break time in the field Playing football A shot gone high and wide And Retrieving the ball So to resume Play, the rest waiting Taking a water break as The Two geeky boys Hold onto the football, Not giving back, ‘We wont give it back unless you name The best computer’ “I duuno commodore?” ‘No that’s a console, the best computer is an Amstrad CPC 6128’ “Ok can I have the ball back please?” ‘Here you are. Live long and prosper’ “Thank you.” And as they reluctantly give the ball back, I shrug and a sigh Maybe a shake of the head as I kick the ball back towards The field of play, running With the wind through my hair Playing football and free I ponder upon the geeks And their unpopularity, How they fail to help their own cause Because of they’re unceasing Stubborn inability to Want to make friends Whilst I, Taking on the persona Of John Barnes of Liverpool Or Glenn Hoddle of Spurs Immerse myself fully Into the beautiful game That the rest of us were So enthralled to play ‘Hello sir, you would like an Upgrade I hear? Personal details Birthdate And Postcode Please What current phone do you have”? The questions transport me To the here and now Though still on the periphery As my cognitive wheels Are still rolling back From the summer fields My mouth goes into overdrive “You see I’ve been due an Upgrade For four years, I just haven’t taken Advantage Of this fact And my Current phone is actually a Downgraded Version Of the last phone I attained six years ago. I spilt beer and ruined That one Anyway it’s definitely not IRONIC cool retro… Ha Ha, Perhaps some might say MORONIC retro, Well it was Cutting edge For about a month in 2005 It can go Online, Just, But it’s never worth the hassle It’s somewhere on the Phone Evolution Process Though long Extinct, There are many Surprise comebacks, With Phones I know This one Certainly wont Be one of them You see… I’ve never considered a Phone As something that could Enhance My life As something to Desire Though today was… Different It was more out of A necessity, Than anything else I mean you can’t create an Instagram account Without… ‘Ok. Yes. Lets see what current Package you are on sir and We can take it from there’ My mind drifted back Probably that same summer It was art and design class Primary school It was outside We had charcoal And were drawing trees All the class except The two geeky boys They had somehow engineered it With the teachers (They claimed by utilizing the Jedi mind trick) That they could stay in the classroom And play with Technic Lego Observing the trees I remember learning about, Form and tone, whilst Trying to capture the movement Of the breeze In the leaves, The Art teacher encouraged us to Listen acutely And capture that sound, Drawing with our eyes closed I remember a connection Between leaves, ear, hand and paper Then eye And finished piece, A visual recording Of sound. Breaking the spell the bell Would ring signifying That class had finished And upon returning To the classroom, Like on Centre stage were Giant cranes like structures And cityscapes, Functioning with motion It was quite impressive, The art class gawped ‘This is our new planet Eldoran, its fully operational. It took us only a matter of two hours to make’ I remember placing my charcoal works on the table, So as to get a better look “Don’t get that charcoal dust on our city! What is this, an invasion? It won’t compute here, It’s an infiltration! Don’t meddle with the turbomechanics, Our very own microchip processors The building blocks of our metropolis Then pointing at my paper drawing What is that scribble anyway? What a mess!’ Sir? How about 2gig of data texts unlimited And Personal hotspots add on? A budget you say? Let me see What other deals we have sir. I will put you on hold. Hold on. The Ambient notes returned And I drifted back To the bus The drive home after school It always stank of cigarettes and Dust and ash particles Would dance in the sunlight As you sat down. I remember sitting opposite the two Inseparable geeky boys (Though unpopular, I never Went out my way To avoid them And probably because I was alone In this fact It was only I who ended up Engaging with them. Though often I would wonder Why I bothered To be so courteous They had a sense Of putting you ill at ease An air of superiority, A quiet confidence Interspersed With Bursts Of psychobabble. Or that’s what it sounded like To me.) ‘My dad has a Brawn Micron Vario 3 Universal He says it makes him look like Don Johnson, What doe’s your dad have? Talking of smooth We’re getting the Cole covision expansion module Number 1 With add ons, Which acquires the entire Atari 2600 library And portal for joystick! This surpasses the Apple Lisa, Which really slows you down With that operating system. Talking of computers Are you getting the Amstrad CPC 6128? It’s the best on the market. Better hurry Or it will be superseded ‘Ummm, I haven’t really put much thought to it” Not much thought? Theological debate time! “Change! Is the essential process Of all existence” ‘And I am Khan. You think the world is safe? It is all an illusion.” Ha ha ha ha…” All these convoluted words, Numeric and technological phrases Would go over my head, It was almost like they spoke another language. I certainly couldn’t get their humor, It might have something to do with star trek. That blue guy with the pointy ears… Alas that Christmas I did get the Amstrad CPC 6128. It didn’t just play games; It had a keyboard, Monitor And Disc drive. You could even programme your own games. A real powerhouse of computing Of its time. Though all this tech Was wasted on me I just played the video games. My mind never really ventured behind And beyond The four-cornered screen of the monitor The mechanics or its Processing power never really Fascinated me I was actually more interested and drawn to What was Outside The other four cornered arena In my bedroom, The window. Surrounded by nature, On the first floor High up in the elements I was lucky to have Such a view. The howling gale at night or Crisp winter mornings Dusted white frost Sparkling in the Pale yellow light. The slate grey driveway Surrounded by Poplars and oaks Flanked by ponds. Nature… Trees, and silhouettes in the night It all seemed so alive It fed the imagination. I was connected to it, it to me. Inspiration. Input Output. Input Output. ‘So sir. We will go ahead now and have you Your new phone. 2 gig of data unlimited calls and text’s, 5-inch screen black with a personal Hotspot add on to tablet, laptop… 24-month contract Delivery tomorrow, you will get a txt, There will be a terms and conditions message After this call, feel free To hang up at any point Of this message. Is there anything else I can Help you with sir? After holding out for so long I can now become a fully-fledged Member of the virtual world, A sense of inclusion In this modern era I have finally got a smart phone An AI in my pocket The pull was strong I have joined the club We now all talk The geeks language The geeks have won. ‘Sir?’ Anything I can help you with? “No that’s fine. That’s all the help I need. Thank you.”
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AuthorSam Weldon - Artist |