Write me back

I never set my watch because 
My cellphone tells the time as well
And since it knows when last we spoke
My cellphone has this double role:

To calculate the hours elapsed 
Between one clock check and the next 
And calculate the anxious hours 
Wasted waiting for your text.

Explanation

Your cellphone has replaced your watch. Or, if you have a smart watch, your cellphone first replaced your watch, then became your watch.

Either way, you now know both the time, and whether your crush has texted you back. When you take your phone out of your pocket, you might justify it by telling yourself you are checking the time, but really, you are also checking if anyone cares about you.

I do not think it is wise to give your various messaging apps unlimited access to your face. That isn’t to say I don’t do it—actually I do it all the time. If I am looking for social reassurance, I will obsessively check Insta, Facebook, LinkedIn, Whatsapp, normal sms, email—to say nothing of phone calls. (I am honestly probably forgetting a few channels.)

Can you imagine that, 200 years ago, you could literally only talk to someone in person or by letter? Were people more chill then, or did they hang out by their mail boxes anxiously waiting for their crush’s letter to arrive by pigeon? Let me know in the comments.

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Lesson

Get a watch! A real one. I have a Seiko and a Nordgreen, and I love them both. Limit the amount of exposure your face gets to your phone.

Poem stats

8 lines

Iambic tetrameter 

Rhyme scheme: ABCB DEFE