Isolation

I don't understand

all the complaints

about people

with their heads bowed

and their eyes

on the screens of their phones

Man's long-term dream

is isolation

We treasure the stories

of Daniel Boone

Jim Bridger

and those who

lived in small cabins

at the edge of a mirrored lake

built over their first summer

to trap the beaver

on dammed streams

in the wilderness

The screens show us

the great wilderness

that is humanity

as we search for beaver

buffalo and elk

all by ourselves

on the L to the “Loop”

Someday a passenger

will shoot an elk

near the CTA Blue Line

We'll call her

Elk Megan

since

Buffalo somebody

is already taken

The Chicago SWAT Team

will show up while she's

beading her elk-skin shirt

and yell for her

to put down her needle

Cell phone by her side

with complete instructions

and color illustrations

Barry G. Wick