New Technology And Old People

As I grow older, I find that technology gets more and more frightening, every day. Maybe I should go live in the woods.

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I loved it. I never knew poems could be funny too. This is actually my first and it surely left a mark. This is exactly what most old people feel when it comes to techy stuff. We teenagers...

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Top 500 Poem 440

Smart Phone - Dumb User

Published by Family Friend Poems December 2017 with permission of the Author.

My new phone is "smart." I guess that I'm not.
Amazing what all this here smart phone has got.
TV and Weather and Internet, too.
There's just no limits to what it can do.
Check my blood pressure and my temperature
Without even probing all my apertures.
I now know the time in Paris or Greece.
I can track the migration of thousands of geese
Or find Chinese food; it's here on this map.
Oops, my finger just slipped, now where was that at?
A camera...a CAMERA! Now I can take shots
Of everyone I know (who'd rather I not).
Push this here button and take me a "selfie."
(If it had a nose would this thing take a "smellfie"?)
Email to pester with, video to shoot,
Maps to drive 'round with, wow that's a hoot!
A compass to guide me home if I'm lost.
Thank God work paid for this thing (what it COSTS!).
The things that it does would amaze Mr. Bell.
What he would have thought of it, no one can tell,
But one question's still stuck in my middle-aged craw.
Despite all the gizmos that strike me with awe,
They're fun and they're useful and "techy" and all
...But how do I just simply make a phone call?

Interview with Top Poet Rick W. Cotton

What makes this poem one of your favorites?
I had such fun writing this and expressing the growing frustration with technology as I grow older. It’s a response to this world of too many passwords and usernames, constantly changing software we have to learn at work, and young kids, just out of grade school, who can run rings around us older folks when working with or just discussing new technology. Life seems to move too fast as you grow older, and I just wanted to say how some of us feel about it.
Just like this poem, a handful of your writing pieces are humorous. What do you like most about funny poems?
I love writing that takes liberties with words and language. Dr. Seuss and Ogden Nash made me laugh doing this as I grew up, and others today still do it. English is a strange language, but properly manipulated, it can be hilarious. Even if you have to break a few rules.
You write about a variety of topics. Where do you find your inspiration, and do you have a favorite topic to write about?
My favorite topics are nature, especially the seasons, and my faith in God. Beauty abounds in both. If a golden autumn day does not inspire you, I think you are not looking. If you have no beliefs, where is the mystery in your life?
What is your favorite experience that has resulted from being published on Family Friend Poems?
I actually have two – one person wrote to say her child had read one of my poems in a poetry reading contest and had won First Place out of many poems read. She said that the poem had drawn laughter and a lot of “head nodding.” That resonated with me, to know that my poem had reached them as well. Another person wrote to tell me that one of my Christmas poems had brought tears to her eyes. This means a LOT to me. Poetry is often about emotion, and mine are quite real. I am glad it reached someone who can relate.