Play In The Dirt

Play In The Dirt

We had no indoor toilet,

No gas or electric heat

When I was a little boy.

We used the outhouse

Far away in the back,

And had to be wary

Of the giant rooster

Who did attack me

On more than one occasion.

We brought in wood

To fire the stoves

To cook our meals.

To warm the house

And make it smell good.

I played in the dirt

With marbles and sticks.

I carved out roads and trails

For imaginary horses.

The rain made mud

For towers and castles.

Back then, my life had

Very few hassles.

When I was in high school.

I learned to use a slide rule

And write letters on a typewriter

I got my first calculator

When I went to college

And I wrote the calculations

Down on paper

To make sure the calculator

Calculated the answer correctly.

A 7 by 7 inch green

Tiny little monitor screen

Did not display computer graphics.

It only showed light green

Fortran characters on

the university super computer.

I spent hours plunking and plunking

The keyboard characters,

While I created a 3D grid in my head,

And prayed that my code was correct.

I still know how to write in cursive

Although it is not very pretty.

Today I slide my finger

Over the letters on my cell phone

To create a message

That could reach the other side of the planet

At the blink of an eye.

I worry sometimes that

Not all electronic inventions

Are improvements.

We risk losing "touch"

With all things tactile.

Losing our ability to be sensual

With each and every tap

On our cell phone.

We become numb

To the energetic vibrations

Of our own bodies,

Of our surroundings,

Of our very own breath.

We need to play in the dirt,

Splash in the rain,

Stomp in the mud,

And chop wood

For a warm fire

from time to time,

Lest we forget

that we are human.