Progress

Years ago I possessed
a manual typewriter
that sat on a table
in the corner of my room.
A great piece of equipment,
I knew its every key
by heart. My fingers grew
strong from pounding them.
The muscles on my left arm
bulged from pushing the carriage
to start the next line.

Then there was progress
and the old manual
was cast aside.

My new typewriter
came with a cord.
Electricity
made it run. My fingers
tapped lightly on each key;
no more need to pound.
My left arm grew listless.
The carriage was gone;
a ‘return’ key took its place.

Then there was progress;
the electric typewriter
was cast aside.

Next came my computer
with memory installed.
The tips of my fingers
danced on its keys.
New lines ‘wrapped’ on their own.
I ‘saved’ on the hard drive,
‘backed-up’ on disks.
I learned the DOS language
and memorized codes.

Then there was progress
and everything changed.

Now I have ‘windows’
and a mouse on a pad.
The floppies are smaller;
the hard drive holds more.
My printer does color
or black and white. I’ve got
a scanner, a modem,
a CD-Rom drive. I surf
the net and e-mail my friends.

I keep on learning
so I’m not cast aside.

by Candyce Nathanson-Goldstein

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