Smart Phone Zombie Poem by Stephen Katona
Smart Phone Zombie
Hey you, 'Smart Phone Zombie',
Here's some advice for free:
A life in cyberspace,
Is a shocking disgrace.
Tonight there's a local dance,
Where you can find true romance;
Someone you can embrace,
With a real human face.
That screen is far too bright,
To let you sleep at night,
Don't put up with those alerts,
Or attacks by pop-up adverts.
You look far too stressed,
So give that phone a rest.
Don't let it heat up your brain,
Or give you eye strain.
Why tell everyone where you are,
Or risk crashing your car?
Now, get off that machine,
It hypnotizes with its screen!
STOP, don't you dare take that selfie,
You're obsessed and it's not healthy.
You'd gain hours each day,
If you just threw it away.
No wonder you're depressed,
Your life needs more zest.
Forget about your email,
Find fresh air to inhale.
TURN OFF that google app,
Here, try this paper map,
Climb to the top of that hill,
See a world that's not digital.
COME ON, be SMART,
Make a new start.
There's no need to be,
A 'Smart Phone Zombie.'
The cartoon is by Indian cartoonist Swapan Debnath. It is the second of two cartoons showing how mobile phones should not interfere with family life. You can see the other cartoon at:
http: //behappycartoons.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/what-effect-is-your-smart-phone-having.html
Original version:
Are you a smart phone zombie,
Would you like to be free?
Is your phone ruining your life,
Taking time from your wife?
Do you think like a sheep,
Or want a better nights sleep?
Are you feeling rather stressed,
In need of a good rest?
Do endless streams of text,
Make you feel vexed?
Will you be just the same,
After it heats up your brain,
Or see the world again,
When it gives you eye strain?
Are you bombarded by alerts,
Tired of pop-up adverts?
Is your life your own,
With this kind of phone?
It gives away where you are,
Lowers control of your car.
Detach from your machine,
With its hypnotic screen.
A life in cyberspace,
Is a shocking disgrace.
Obsession with the selfie,
Is really not healthy.
Just suppose it were lost,
Or left out in the frost.
It could happen to fall,
Or collide with a wall.
Let it give you the slip,
Just loosen your grip.
This kind of alarm clock,
Should be hit with a rock.
Protect your child's grammar,
With a heavy hammer.
Save hours each day,
Throw the battery away.
Give your life back some zest,
To not feel so depressed.
Forget all your email,
Find fresh air to inhale.
Walk away from your apps,
Without your google maps.
Climb to the top of a hill,
For life not so digital,
Stare long at the view,
Come down by canoe.
Cycle around a wood,
Explore your neighbourhood.
Find a real human face,
Someone you can embrace.
Go to a local dance,
To find true romance.
There's no need to be,
A smart phone zombie.
even BEFORE i saw valsa's comment, i was going to write: favorite lines so far: Now, get off the ruddy machine, It hypnotizes with its screen! and “Climb to the top of that hill, See a world that's not digital.” …………with a bit of manipulative pronunciation, one can make a good rhyme from these two lines. but LOSE the “its” where I would write/type “it’s”! you (and others) should make a new year’s resolution NOW to avoid this common error! :) :) and favorite lines from the “original”: “Protect your child's grammar, With a heavy hammer. Save hours each day, Throw the battery away.” {don’t forget to dispose of ‘properly’! ! } well, I’M no smart phone zombie. I’m not smart, nor a zombie, though I did find myself sitting under a full moon one November night in the city cemetery. I had NO idea how I got there. I got my first cell phone about eight years ago when I moved in with a woman who had no landline. I’m on my third phone here now [one fell into a bucket of paint and I could never make people hear me (over the phone) after that]. no smart phones in our home! my brother says his long beard shuts off his wife’s phone when he is using it, so they got an ‘old-fashioned’ phone receiver which plugs into the ‘fancy phone’. the closest I come to being a zombie is on PH, but my ‘home boss’ keeps me in check (as I do also) . yes, I could be walking through a woods etc. (and sometimes do) , but the interaction and friendship I’ve found on PH is great. yes, Steve, I like both poems, but agree the newer one is ‘better’. nice work! nice rhyming….of course…. and another fine cartoon. I wonder if you just send the poem to the cartoonist and let him do his “thing” with the artwork. or do you suggest a scene? to MyPoemList. and I HAVE heard of that wiseguy, bri. :) bri
Thanks for spotting the its instead of it's typo. I write detailed instructions for what I'd like in each cartoon and try to draw a rough version. For instance in the cartoon above there is a duck popcorn maker and candy floss machine we use in our kitchen, and I frequently convert our kitchen table into a ping-pong table. We then work through a few drafts together. I'm always amazed how much extra he brings to each cartoon. I'd like to read a poem called: My phone fell into a bucket of paint.
This poem is just perfect Stephen and so true we have become too attached to our phones and the reality of life is passing us by as we miss out on the beauty of nature, good conversations etc. Life is for living being in good company with friends, listening to music, reading books and daydreaming to allow our imaginations to run free! Amazing rhyming as always and brilliant observations of how we waste our time as smart phone zombies!
Now, get off the ruddy machine, It hypnotizes with its screen! So true....! ! . You have beautifully summarized the addictive effect of smart phones on man's life..... It has become a boon and a blessing at the same time! But unfortunately with its obtrusive intervention, we don't have quality time with family or friends! Smart phones have become an obsession! I really enjoyed the cartoon where children play so focussed without any distraction and the smart phones laid to sleep at the back drop! Really enjoyed the poem with the cartoon picture! .......10
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/20/2024 11:30:44 AM # 1.0.0.1119
As Bri has rightly said, both the versions are equally good! But I cannot say if I prefer the first to the latter! I love the lines; Find a real human face, Someone you can embrace. Go to a local dance, To find true romance.
Thank you Valsa, I've put all those lines in the new version.