Connecting (again)

This in some ways was prompted by a book I am reading where a murdered poet has written "Nothing connects" in his notebook, my reading on the story of the Tower of Babel and a colleague who did a wonderful video explaining his current experience with MS that is affecting his ability to speak, referring to the opening two images here as analogies of what has happened to his nervous system. Sadly as I watched his very moving video, I also thought that it was a perfect analogy for the general breakdown in the quality of communication these days. I have written before on the theme of making connections, be it within the church or elsewhere. Its so vital and whilst we have more means of connecting these days in many ways, but do we really make the most of them? 

No more banks of operators 

saying “Let me put you through!”

Ravenous rodents 

have gnawed through the cables.

Now little bars measure 

the strength of the signal,

while campaigners complain

that 5G is the cause of all ills.

Dr. Beeching’s prescription,

has long ago stripped-out

another mobile network,

while roadways crumble

and potholes swallow

policy initiatives whole.

Joined-up government

Seems frighteningly fragmented,

Conducted not in cursive,

But U N C I A L - Capitalised,

Bold and double-spaced.

There is no Lingua Franca

In this post-Brexit Babel

Between or within nations.

The pandemic disregards borders

But division is now endemic.

Human engagement has moved online,

With asocial swiping, toxic tweets 

And zooming rooms.

The haves do not have

To meet those who have not.

Us’uns never have to encounter them’uns.

It’s an increasingly small world 

after all, 

they tell us.

Those fabled six degrees

Have become one or two.

If we choose.

But does it 

really 

all 

connect?

Do we?

Selah