I recall that during my teenage years people spoke of the 'Generation Gap' when referring to the gulf that had begun to appear between young people and their parents. I suspect that it had always been there but in the middle of the Twentieth Century it seemed to widen appreciably, largely influenced by contemporary music, cinema and literature.
Nowadays I find myself emulating my late parents and muttering about a similar 'Gap' but this one is driven by technology. My grandchildren's generation seem unable to engage directly with the world about them and, instead, appear to filter everything through a screen of one sort or another: a generalisation, of course, for surely there are many exceptions.
The poem below, which appears in my Stone Witness collection, tackles the issue, while the image, one of Banksy's, I think, puts it even more succinctly.
IMAGES
This is a tree, he said and pointed to a tree.
We have seen images, they said.
There are many trees, he said. This tree is cedar.
We have seen images, they said.
Here is a flower, he said and pointed to a flower.
We have seen images, they said.
There are various flowers, he said. This is a rose.
We have seen images, they said.
This is a cat, he said. See it move. Watch it stretch.
Just like the images, they said.
This is a dog, he said. Watch as it wags its tail.
Images are better, they said.
That is the sky. Those small birds are swallows, he said.
We have seen images, they said.
Over there are blue mountains and a lake, he said.
Can we go back inside? they said.
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