This conference – by videophones –
would stop Marco Polo in his tracks,
take the wind out of Columbus’ sails,
and has messed up meal times
in five separate time zones.
Dinner in Shanghai
but breakfast on Wall Street.
Luncheon in London’s City
and in Frankfurt am Main.
Tea in Mumbai.
Listen! … so what do you think?
There it is again:
the delicate sound of a glass
on a glass – a clink,
a disembodied clink!
(first published in The Human Hive, by John Looker,
Bennison Books, 2015)
John Looker’s poetry collection, The Human Hive, was selected by the Poetry Library for the UK’s national collection. His poems have appeared in print and in online journals and will be included in three anthologies for publication in 2017. A selection of John’s poetry can also be found HERE.
Bonnie McClellan-Broussard 
Thank you Bonnie – I am grateful!
A great comment on communications in the digital age, when we’re able to share the present split-second globally regardless of time zones, right down to the disembodied clink of glass on glass. You’ve illustrated this so deftly, John. ‘Mercury’ is an impressive poem.
My very best,
Paul