Devices

Device efficiency impresses. 
I read on my phone, underline on
The tablet, make notes on the Kindle,
And see it all on the computer.  

When young, at first, I loved
Evelyn Wood’s method: read fast, 
Note the salient points, develop
A mnemonic to maximize recall. 

We were being trained to be
The best and the brightest, 
An easy confirmation for
JFK’s cabinet in our future.

If she’s around, Evelyn Wood
Would love all these devices:
Efficient, fast, syncing one to
The other, nothing lost. 

Enjoying the bluffs
Facing Santa Monica Bay
On a long late afternoon
Up against a tree

I’d read a book,
Paper, ink, binding,
But only one volume
Not the hundreds

Housed on the cloud device.
Only one, no bored alternatives,
And someone walking by,
Glancing at the title,

Might ask, ’How’s the book?’ 
We’d chat, compare notes. 
And if the writing deserved it,
I’d read a line aloud.

Slowly, savoring devotedly,
A thoughtful writer’s well chosen
Phrase, words rolling off my 
Tongue, heard, relished,

Not Evelyn Woody devoured. 
I like the devices, and read
On my phone, sitting
On a bench on the bluff,

Delighting in the waves and clouds 
And boats and gulls
Down on the beach,
Between delicious phrases.

Without the book, no one asks
“Whatcha reading?”  leading into
A passing and sometimes sharp
Chat with a stranger
About a book
On the bluff
Above the bay
In Santa Monica.

Maybe sometimes
I should
Bring along
A real book too.