Controlling the Present

Controlling the Present

By: Shelby Hardesty

 

2nd Place Poem, Poetry Contest 2015

I like to envision the past and the present, sitting side by side,

Me, sitting in my remote controlled recliner, thinking about the past;

 Grandma, rocking in her old wooden rocker, wondering how her simple life had gone by so fast.

 I feel like an astronaut sitting in my chair,

Ready to be launched into space somewhere;

I pick up the remote, so I can gain control,

Should I push the button to go up, or push the one to go down?

Do I want my feet high in the air, or down there on the ground?

Such decisions must be made, just to get out of this chair.

So here I sit in captivity, depending on a mindless, programmed chair.

What will be my destiny, does anyone really care?

I’ll send an e-mail message to my friend to come rescue me,

But I forget the password which belongs to only me.

I’ll try to text a message on my new iPhone,

I find the numbers are too small for these old eyes to see;

And my fingers are way too large and shaky to touch each little key.

They say that life has improved over time,

And that life was harder before;

But at least you were in control, which isn’t true anymore.

A world of buttons, remotes, and keyboards control my very being,

Give me back the simple life, when I knew what I was doing;

Life in present time is simply, too confusing.