Disconnected Profundity

I posted these little poems together because they are related...half-siblings with shared alleles from the same frustrated donor. Although I know Facebook , Twitter, etc. are social media watering holes, I cannot help but be reminded of my days on the playground, trying to get the attention of my friends, my teachers, or even my parents by shouting the loudest, waving my arms, or falling off the jungle gym. The competition for attention, interest, and response was challenging. The noise level was deafening. The visual impact was akin to a hundred TV commercials running simultaneously.

Eventually, even falling off the jungle gym garnered no attention, because two other kids just fell off the slide and one did a swan dive from a swing in mid-flight. I remember feeling isolated and disconnected amidst the cacophony, adrift on a sea of noise; invisible in the bright light of frenetic activity. The roar receded and deafened by the clamor, I went about my business of playing -- in a cocoon of my own construction. I could shout that my left foot was on fire or that a chunk of the sky just descended upon my aching head with a Martian martini attached to it, and no one would ever know. I could dance in the daylight, sing of long-lost sunny days, and utter the most profound wisdom available to a first grader -- all without worry of rebuke or even recognition. The only danger was that, occasionally, someone else noticed and then a chain reaction faster than light speed focused all attention on my imaginary flaming left foot.

You know, I miss the quiet pleasure of getting a letter...

Mick


Disconnected

Two fellows stood, with megaphones in hands,
Up on their rooftops, straddling the peak --
Voicing their opinions, making demands,
Reveling in their certain right to speak.
Soon, all their neighbors had joined in the fun,
Armed with megaphones, signs, and flashing lights.
Each competing to be the loudest one,
Or have the most compelling sounds and sights.
The media sensation quickly grew,
Spreading like a virus across the land.
They all broadcasted everything they knew --
Shouting until hoarse, till they could not stand.
The grand cacophony would not abate,
Even though they could not communicate.

Mick McKellar
August 2009

Profundity

My message said I stayed up late,
While trying to communicate,
My thoughts, profound and wise.
I posted them for all to see,
I shared the very core of me,
In front of all their eyes.

I thought, perhaps, a small response,
Would justify, upon the nonce,
My self-effacing boast.
But, hours later, all I read:
That you had risen from your bed...
And you were making toast.

Affronted by this simple snub,
I poured hot water in my tub;
I sat and had a soak.
And later, when I mentioned it,
My tub-soak posting was a hit!
Please tell me that's a joke...

Mick McKellar
August 2009