17 November 2012

Lullaby

Sleep my little cell phone, don’t you ring tonight
I want to close my eyes and keep them closed ‘til light
Nothing is so important it couldn’t wait ‘til morn
I’ll turn your volume up again when it is dawn

Sleep, sleep, close your eyes and sleep

And you, dear friends, put your cell phones away
We must go out and work again at break of day
I know your heart is breaking, but give it a rest
If you call him 20 times, he’ll just think you’re a pest

Sleep, sleep, close your eyes and sleep

Sleep my little cell phone while I charge your battery
Unlike me, you will not work on solar energy
Listen to my song, if you rest tonight
I will keep you company in broad daylight

Sleep, sleep, close your eyes and sleep

Sleep should come easily when we’re young and free
The complex world awaits out there for us to see
And if we are rested we'll have a better chance
to sing a life victorious with harmonious romance.
  
 Sleep, sleep, close your eyes and sleep




Posted for Poets United Pantry "Poetry Pantry - #124."   A need for levity led me to revise this piece from a poem I wrote back in April 2012 for NaPoWriMo.  The narrative below is from the original posting:


I flashed back to junior high chorus where we sang a beautiful lullaby that Google.com does not know:  "Sleep my little child, while you're young and free, the morning sea is waiting for thee 'neath the moon . . . ."  I took my memory of that and addressed this to . . . .  I used as many cliches as popped into my head.  I'll be serious tomorrow.  

Writing this poem and its introduction reminded me of a short story--a flash fiction almost--by Amiri Baraka, called "Rhythm Travel" (1996) in the anthology of speculative fiction Dark Matter.  In this story, a young man creates a machine that allows travel back to the origin of whatever song it is given. How important it becomes to chose the song carefully!!   Some history should never be relived.

 Copyright © 2012 S.L.Chast


11 comments:

  1. And thus the cell phone sleeps :-)

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  2. LOL.... Chloe is soooo addicted to hers it's the first thing I take when she comes home from school and make her have a three hour break from endless texting. On school nights I take her cell away at 10pm or, she'd be texting all through the night. I cannot understand how kids can be with each other all day and yet still have non stop chat they want to share. But, you are right, this endless needing contact has gotten out of hand. LOL
    Mine goes to sleep every night and quite a bit through the day.
    Nice one Susan and fun too. :)

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  3. I cracked up when I got to this line:

    Sleep my little cell phone while I charge your battery...

    This is closer to home than any of us would admit :)

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  4. so funny and so true! one cracker-jack of a piece!

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  5. any call i get in the middle of the night is probably not a good one...honestly...we spend too much time on our cells anyway...and there seems to be an idea we should be available whenever ...better they sleep and i pretend my battery died...smiles.

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  6. Oh good Lord, I have a stitch in my stomach, just the starting verse was enough to get me started, and the laughter flowed through. Susan, this is one gem of a hilarious poem, and it was just what I needed tonight. Brilliant... simply brilliant! Thank you.

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  7. This made me laugh! Very hard to let our cell phones sleep -- whether we are teens or adults!

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  8. This was a fun read. It amazes me all the people walking around with their heads down, texting........what on earth is everyone SAYING?

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  9. This made me laugh out loud!! I love the lighthearted rhythm - perfect for your subject.

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  10. this made me smile! great write!

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  11. My cellphone never sleeps--well, rarely anyway...Great poem.

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