For centuries we’d had the lover’s phone,
two cans attached to the ends of a taut string.
And speaking tubes were used on ships to bring
two voices close, each like a loud trombone.
With telegraphs, we felt far less alone.
When phones became electric, we could sing
and joke and grouse, tell anecdotes, or sting
a lover and not watch them moan or groan.

But now we talk with holograms or solely
observe each other on a wristwatch screen.
However far, our signals all careen
faster than light, for light goes much too slowly!
I call my deceased sister at low cost.
With modern phones now, no one’s really lost.