Personal stereo: a poem

I wrote this poem twenty-five years ago and it sounds outdated now, but some of the same concerns still circulate around listening on phones.

Personal Stereo

She had her personal stereo.

“Would you like to listen?”, she asked.

She loved the gleam of the brand-new gadget,

Hated the one-hundred-pound blow to the wallet.

Enjoyed the smooth metal against her palm,

Was concerned about leaking headphones.

Felt relief from the inane conversations of others,

But anxiety about hearing-loss.

A sense of liberation.

A fear of addiction, theft, flat batteries.

She felt the happiness of an idle moment,

But a sadness she no longer filled it with her own songs.