when I was a kid
you woke up on a weekend
and met your friends
at the local park
you spent all day
playing on the swings
or exploring
and went home
when it was dark
just in time for dinner

when I was young
we got home from school
had a sandwich
did some homework
then met our friends
on the street
for some fun
shooting the breeze
poking tounges
at all the boys
oh the joy

when we couldn't
make it outside the yard
you meet your siblings
out back
where the lawn hadn't been mowed
in days and
you worked together
to create an elaborate maze
for our clothes peg people
to navigate
it was so great

Nowadays

We all live in this tiny fishbowl
I check my daughters Facebook
times untold
just to see what she's feeling
because we are 'Friends'
then I text my Son
that dinner is here,
He's only in a room downstairs
he may as well be living
Siberia

They don't need me
while they have their life
Unlimited cable internet
streaming to their Xbox, iPad,
cellphone, laptop, talking to friends
like I never did unless
they were standing in my front yard
propped next to a bike

and as I sit here sipping grapes
from an old chipped teacup

*I grew up