Once upon a wired telephone,
party lines were common, and the rates
for talking over distances outshone
the charge for chatting with one’s local mates.
Then folks aspired to a private line –
some lucky teens had units where they slept –
but many had to jostle to confine
their talk and have their gossip closely kept.

Ma Bell was then controlling like a queen,
until by anti-trust compelled to split,
and then the towers turned to cells – the scene
was mobilized and minimized to sit
in hand or pocket, use in car or street,
and now the old equipment’s obsolete.