While looking for a bridge
  to cross over tonight

Connecting time honored values
  to internet blight

I thought and I pondered,
  as I surfed on the net

But the things that it offers
  are sadly abject

Where is the laughter
  the thrill of the chase

Through forest and meadow
  with all of your mates

Gone is the connection
  looking eye into eye

Replaced now with distance
  and its virtual lie

The children are programmed
  their bits and their bytes

With screens the new playgrounds
  their couches—their life

Where all of this leads,
  I’m fearful to know

As I look for that bridge
  where our youth can still go

To return from the chaos
  to a welcoming time

Where friendships were made
  in a tree you just climbed

But the harder I search
  the dimmer it gets

Quicksand reinvented
  their souls it collects

Though cards stack against me,
  I remain on my quest

The young are still worth it
 —and hope never rests

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2017)