Time Traveller

I’m a time- traveller
From the 21st century
I can go back and forth in time
Seeing if I can find a time and place:
A place I can truly call “mine”

Today I walked into my local pub;
Everyone was texting on their phones,
Or surfing on the internet.
I felt quite on my own.

So I took out my own mobile phone
And tapped in “1739”
And then I hit ”Go”
And travelled back in time.

Ah…  Here there were people talking
Face to face, coffee and beer in hand,
Grounded, unaffected
Here in England.

And there was talk of the nature of the earth
A model globe stood nearby.
What of earthquakes
And volcanoes?
Could anyone say where or why?

I took a book down from a nearby shelf
As the smoky air around me unravelled
Two men nearby were playing chess;
The book was “Gulliver’s Travels"

And I wondered if in the 21st century
Social media was for the best
Or whether human interaction would become
Like our card payments:
Which is to say- contactless?