Strung out on zen, I wrote this on the final day of the last meditation retreat I participated in. That may help to contextualize things a bit.

It’s been lingering on my hard drive for a while now, and I thought it might be time to inflict it upon the world. So, without any further ado…

__________________________________________

“Screens” by Zachary Stockill

.

There’s a screen at your bedside

that tells you to wake up,

There’s a screen with your coffee

from your first to last cup.

There’s a screen at the bus stop,

a screen for the ride,

There’s a screen that is screaming

both in and outside.

There’s a screen on the street,

to match the screen in your hand.

There’s a screen as you walk

with video on demand.

There’s a screen at the office

A screen at your seat

There’s a screen in the conference room where you meet.

There are screens in the hands of coworkers and friends

with bright lights and flashes and “beeps” that don’t end.

There’s a screen in the lunch room

a screen in the hall

there’s a screen near the screens in the ladies room stall.

There’s a screen over dinner,

a screen at the bar.

There’s a screen on the screen of your best friend’s new car.

There’s a screen in your bedroom,

And others atop drawers

Showing famines and outbreaks and killing and wars.

There’s a screen in your bathroom

A screen near the sink

There’s a screen in the place where your brain used to think.

So if you take away something from this poem of mine

let it be that screens eat up most of your time.

There are people and places and nature and scenes

that are infinitely more interesting than screens.

You’ll be dead in a box in a minute or two

So why not look around and admire the view?