passing notes is dead b/c i phones

passing notes is dead b/c i phones

a decades long old teenage tradition
is dead:

papal word passing
replaced by shiny new machines
the machine is only as smart as its user
T: "chad read that text in front of the class"
C: "uhm...nothing to read..."
gets up and shows the teacher a picture of a fellow classmate in a compromising pose
chad gets a free pass to leave so the principal can collect information on the viral

passing notes is dead b/c i phones

there are two sides to your unlimited data plan
maybe more

passing notes is dead b/c i phones

teens were//are never innocent angels
their bodies are changing and so are their minds
brains LITERALLY pairing off unused synapses stored as children

passing notes is dead b/c i phones

in middle school in the 90s she got notes
things like, "i have a crush on you" or "i love you"; pencil heart margins
she didn't take selfies with an iphone
selfies with disposable cameras or an old 35mm cannon
a long process...

passing notes is dead b/c i phones

is now instant
stored data in swedish cold servers
forever forever
burial mounds of plastic data
buildings housing all yer selfies and texts and gmail chats and flickr accounts and facebook likes and blog posts...

passing notes is dead b/c i phones

nostalgia is the real bitch

hits reset back to 91

who could have foreseen the smart phone
in rape cases

i worry for teens these days
nostalgia for a decade unremembered
but there was something simple...quaint
about a vhs trailer and an answering machine
having your own phone line and a beeper was tops
a cigarette at the diner with a coffee and a pizza bagel if you had the cash
no one could contact you if you didn't want them to
and cnn was a reputable news organization(?)

before kids were shooting each other at schools
and the subsequent issue of id tags and metal detectors in mine

we cut class at an abandoned house
and smoked rings around the yellow wall paper
we walked over to video thrills
and stole all the vhs horror flicks
we drove in a honda accord with a sunroof and a joint
and had bonfires outside at the farm house
and it was 99 for columbine and we all waved goodbye
to what we knew

and who could have seen the future
as it unfolds from the front and behind:
a roll of red velvet trimmed with cerulean silk & a polyester paisley print chartreuse bottom)