Eight ten
Coffee in my hand
Bus is turning at the light
I run across and catch the door
Drop into my seat on time
Morning traffic starts to move
Sunlight jumping on the glass
I reach down without a thought
Something isn't where it was
Left pocket
Right pocket
Wait
Where's my phone?
Six stops too late
My phone stayed home
For a second I might go back
Then the doors close with a sound
I watch my street disappear
Guess I'm going without it now
No buzz
No screen
No little light calling me
Just the wheels beneath my feet
And a conversation down the aisle
I look outside for once
The city looks different today
Maybe that's not bad
Lunch comes around before I know
Everybody takes a seat
Phones come out beside the plates
Before anybody starts to eat
Mine stays empty
Food stays hot
I taste the coffee
I hear the room
My phone stayed home
But I didn't disappear
Three twenty
My hand goes down
Straight into that empty pocket
I catch myself and laugh this time
Funny how the body remembers
No buzz
No scroll
No checking every minute
Then work is done
Five thirty
Same old bus
Different window
Different view
Twenty faces lit by screens
I used to look exactly like that too
Outside, a kid outruns his dad
A woman holds a bunch of flowers
Two old men keep talking loud
Like they could stay there for hours
How much did I miss
While looking down?
No buzz
Keep rolling
By the time I reach my street
The sky has changed from gold to blue
For once the walk from stop to home
Feels like something I walked through
Front door
Shoes off
Kitchen light
There it is
Right beside my coffee cup
Exactly where I left it there
The screen wakes up beneath my hand
Twenty-seven things are waiting
I look once
Put it down
Dinner first
My phone stayed home all day
And the world kept moving anyway
Maybe tomorrow morning
It can wait five minutes more
