Digital Restraint

At a concert in March
two thousand people
and not one phone
goes off from beginning to end
we somehow all remember
the setting of silence

At a dinner party on Saturday
six adults around the table
two hours straight
all devices out of sight
no faces zoned out
staring at a screen

At a restaurant in the city
a mother struggles with her toddler
goes down on all fours
screams at the crowd
said I’ve tried with this one
but he just won’t stop
we gather to help and no one is filming

Poem: © 2019 Iz Mazano
This poem was written as part of the #30PoemsInNovember project in support of the Center for New Americans, a non-profit which supports immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Western MA, USA.
Picture: Royalty free – rawpixel from Pixabay