Way Cool

What could be cooler than a new
touchscreen cellphone? Not much, as
evidenced by the wheedling anxiety
expressed by a grandchild whose
original cellphone was in dire physical
straits a mere year-and-a-half into
its meticulous ownership. Fatigue, the
grandparents nod to one another
knowingly; any device used unsparingly
to send thousands of silly little text
messages signifying nothing, would
be guaranteed to collapse into itself.

Even cellphones are prone to exhaustion
evidently. And as objects of utility,
entertainment and communication, they
must be replaced often and upgraded, in
recognition and obeisance to their due.
Anything, she pleaded, she would forego
anything at all, if granted her heart's desire.
And so, reluctantly, the pathetic shell
of the previous marvel exchanged for new.

New cellphone finally in hand, pleasure
and gratefulness spill forth in equal measure
as cool new advances in technology are
unveiled with the whispered passage of a
finger over the light-featured screen.
Deeply absorbed in the ritual of discovery
and the entry of contacts, the adventure of
gleeful possession punctuates another rite
of passage in an emerging litany of potentials.