GRIND

 
Rows of mute zombies face opposing laptop
backs towards each other, run their fingers
down sleek display designs, and caress
their smartphones. Why work seven days a week
just to toil at the coffeehouse at night?
Remember playing chess and boardgames
at the café? Reading dogeared paperbacks
from the ‘take a book, leave a book’ library?
Listening to an acoustic guitar get drowned
out by a coffee grinder during an open mic?
Before the Internet went public and killed
the community. Before everyone retreated
into their own sphere, earbuds in, tuning
one another out, attention spans annihilated.
Before cellphone addicts texted fellow addicts
sitting right next to them. Pick up a book!
Or start a conversation without using
your phone. Wave your hands excitedly
when you talk. Don’t let your laptop leech
too much of your life energy. Tip your barista,
and remember to buy more than one coffee
every four hours. Capisce?