Time of Day

Have you got the time of day?
On your Instagram device?
Eating off photographic plates
With cultural currency cutlery.
Just the time of day,
Might be nice.

Have you got the time of day?
Strapped upon your arm?
To counts the calories
To knock the edge off
Your cinnamon buns?
Toward your daily goal scored,
Celebrations danced,
On the daisy pressed pitch,
Not the shady corners
Of luck and chance.

Have you got the time of day?
There on your mobile jukebox,
On the way to work,
Blotting out the real world
With another band, another dj
Playlist that befits your mood.
Grey and treadmill like,
It feels, you say.
Easy for you.

Have you got the time of day?
On the train home,
While digital smiles,
Hearts for friends and causes
And angry face reactions
All given in the time it takes,
For real human interaction.

Losing connections to
Those who don’t have
Wi-fi connections,
Those who roam
For food,
A tip-off,
A score,
A safety net,
Not data,
Not updating,
Taste making,
Or boasting, I bet.
Those frustrated by the battle,
The disconnection to the world,
The disconnection between
The 2 foot square
Of pavement occupation
And the hate makers,
Who choose to gloat their status.

Have you got the time of day?
We chuck thumbs ups,
Like cigarette butts,
From motorway windows,
Past thumbs turning blue,
Itching for lifts,
To some place,
Any place
Else.

We are only a cup of tea away,
Between the prison guard
And the prisoner,
We have the same skin
The same within.
In this day and age for ‘sakes,
There’s a fence,
On which either side
You may fall,
You may land,
You may find your place,
You may never fall at all,
But just sit on the fence and
Pass the time away.

Have you got the time of day?
Pause the video.
2 minutes.
Unplug,
Engage
And think
Before you comment.

I grant this, it’s
Not a lot
To be asked,
So please,
In times like these,
The time of day,
Must be given
And not be passed.