Composition

Lyrics

Hi, Phone, my iPhone:
I’m so glad you’re my phone.
You’re my very best friend, who enlightens and fortifies
You’re my beloved emotional support device.
You’re with me from morning through noon time through night In the most private places, out of sight.
You keep me updated, connect me with friends Keep me alert to the latest trends...
Help you pay bills, and check dividends.
I pretend that I’m working, staring at you
When someone doubts that I’ll swear that it’s true
It’s all so convenient but things run amuck When you suck in my head, and I get stuck.
Stuck to the phone, in a distant land
Scrolling and surfing much longer than planned.
Into the vortex, into the abyss
& is it all worth it?
It’s hit or miss.
I’m going to memorize all of the possible verb forms in classical Greek Latin, and Sanskrit, and to write my own epic poetry, that will last through the ages.
I’m going to find the most general law of the reciprocity theorem in any algebraic number field.
I’m going to research 6-part polyphony in the music of the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt
I’m going to learn to levitate!
I’m going to find who killed Mr. Burns!
“Oh, look! a Bunny!” “On a motorcycle!”
How did we function before there was you? Did we talk to “real” people? `
And know what to do?
Stuck to the phone, in a strange tete a tete, Cajoling, extolling folks I’ve barely met.
Yes, baring my soul, and this is what’s WAY bizarre: I may not even know who my actual NEIGHbors are.
Consoling, or trolling, to my surroundings oblivious, I find you, O Phone, coy, beguiling, insidious.
I Love you, I HATE you, I can’t live without you!
It’s worse than I thought, symbiotic, we two.
I HATE You! You LOVE me!
You can’t do without me!
You’re caught up, neurotic, and destined to fail Just try & deny me! You cannot defy me
The next time you lust for me, I will prevail.
You are designed to help people find
& connect and to bind with people with similar views.
You give them a forum without decorum
The craziest, shadiest can readily schmooze.
For discussion, instruction, strong worded advice No one is looking to compromise
Deception disguised is still nothing but lies.
Bringing concurring folks together
Giving everyone a voice
But no one is there to offer reason
Hard to think amid the noise
Thus zealots unite in the name of free speech Likeminded people at fingertips’ reach
We’re so divided, opinions one-sided
And some get excited by every loud screech
I fear for society,
Losing propriety?
So much anxiety.
Problems are real!
The climate, and Isis, innumerable crises, yet sometimes I feel we’re asleep at the wheel.
A succession of memes, and someone’s pipe dreams, mixed with heinous schemes from behind the scenes, no one intervenes ’cause they’re sucked into screens,
& we’re liked, and loved, with laughed with and cried for, and followed, applauded...all brought to extremes. . .
and nobody’s screaming ‘cuz everyone’s streamin’.
Has anyone thought about what all this means?
I Love you, I HATE you, I can’t live without you!
It’s worse than I thought, symbiotic, we two.
I HATE You! You LOVE me!
You can’t do without me!
You’re caught up, neurotic, and destined to fail Just try & deny me! You cannot defy me
The next time you lust for me, I will prevail.
So listen to me, my Phony friend,
I’m the one who will lose in the end.
I’m contracted, distracted; I’ve tried to extract myself
but then you attack, back to you I’ve flown
Like a bad love affair, I’ve lost my backbone, When I finally hang up,
I’m just more alone.

-Cindy Fogg