THE DIVIDE

[Cropduster]

THE DIVIDE

Serve me humility, give wisdom the floor.
Take me back yonder to grand days of yore.
Days when maturity was wed with respect.
The elders dispensing their tales; they reflect
the lessons they leaned from the schoolyard of life,
the bumps and the bruises, the trouble and strife,
that those setting out on that passage, that rite,
might prepare for the battle, forewarned of the fight.

But, alas, it would seem that the young know it all.
Life's answers at fingertips; at their beck and call.
What need for the stories of wizened old men,
of crones in the kitchen, in God's waiting den.
What know they the need for immediacy?
No time to sit down over biscuits and tea.
Is there no turning back? The divide far to great?
How far do we wind back on life's 'use by' date.

I fear that a day will soon enough come
when the meaning of life will mean nothing to some.
The guidance once dealt from the sagest of eyes
Will be spat forth from hand-held incendiary devices
that will lead us to folly, set us all to implode,
Bent on self destruction, the world will explode.
The only survivors will be the machines.
The AI successors, the IT crowd wet dreams.

Copyright (c) Allan Cropper August 2015

[Neville Briggs]

I was young once, I did know it all

[Cropduster]

So, what happened, Nev???...lol

[r.magnay]

...he got old and forgot perhaps...

It's quite amazing isn't it Allan, when people can be sitting in the same room and texting each other rather than talk...as they say these days, 'go figure'...(whatever that means)

[Cropduster]

Its not amazing, Ross. It is often typical of my household, sadly.

Most constant buzzing of phones heralding incoming messages, often from people of little or no consequence, drives me insane.

[Heather]

It's a different world that's for sure, but then, our grandparents probably thought television, telephones and air travel were to be distrusted.

Heather

[Catherine Lee]

Hmm, a different world indeed, and one of my common soapbox rants here about common courtesy and manners. Maximum irritation when I'm attempting to navigate the pavements of Bangkok behind people dawdling along with their heads in their phones...and don't get me started on being out with someone who is spending much of the time texting someone else - often just to show them a picture of the coffee shop or what they're eating! I often wonder if likewise they'd be texting ME if they were sitting there with that other person...or maybe I'm just boring company!

Well written Allan - personally I use my phone as little as possible, and much prefer focusing on a real person in front of me.

[Cropduster]

I find it difficult to believe that you would be boring company, and equally that anyone in your company would be focused on anyone or anything other than you.



Glad you liked the poem

[Catherine Lee]

Thank you Allan!