My son calls me while I'm in line at the Stop & Shop

by Kathe L. Palka

and I freeze, transporting tea from the cart
 to the conveyer belt, mind racing to places
 he might need me, as I answer my cell.
 But he's not calling for rescue from the scene
 of an accident, a highway wreck or more
 natural disaster, rather calling, as if I were
 only in the next room. Home early
 from school, he's wondering what's
 for dinner and after being told, asks if I might
 make mashed potatoes instead of rice.
 I sigh a little yes, slightly annoyed at his
 casualness, but glad to be able to heed the call,
 reminded, I'm the one who thinks of this
 accessibility as a way to keep the world
 at bay, able now to respond anywhere,
 yet burdened by availability.
 Born into this expanding, more connected
 universe, he can't imagine why anyone
 would want to be out of reach, my child who
 wears new technology like a second skin
 and for whom the whole world
 is an easy touch away and should be.