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 offered
were 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 with an I-pad,
and virtual lies

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 minds it besets

Though cards stack against me,
I remain on my quest

The young are still worth it
—and hope never rests

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2017)