Back in the day
“Real time” meant when you bought a newspaper
from the street corner kiosk or machine.
The same day was timely enough for current events,
and ‘going viral’ was language reserved for the doc’s office.
Memes held different meanings back then,
and any online chatting was happening in BBS’s
or that Compuserve online service, the new sensation.
Carburetors could be adjusted with a screwdriver,
engine timing could be checked with a simple light.
EV’s were restricted to the local golf course,
Computers sat in rooms, not under the hood.
But we got by just fine,
didn’t know anything different,
thought we were living in modernity.
Analog living gave us everything we needed.
And we had all the time we needed,
to do just whatever we wanted,
no pesky notifications or updates required,
back when electronic devices worked for us.
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Escape from Pseudo Reality
A paper book beckons with drama on a page,
yet those Netflix dramas are all the rage.
Some man hands a woman a warming wrap,
while remnants of humanity are under attack!
Choose your anxieties, now or later;
War, sex, power, conflict all matter
a lot to audiences, discriminating or not.
Mirrored realities expose our collective lot.
In space or on earth, or in other dimensions,
Humans fight for what’s right, all good intentions.
Knives thrown and auto weapons fired aplenty,
Grit, anger and determination to defeat the enemy!
Streaming videos distract in relentless attacks,
but strong discipline applied yanks attentions back.
Read a paper book and write some lyrical lines down,
that pride of accomplishment brings smiles, not frowns.
The Steelers are fending off another attack by the Chiefs,
but the Chiefs keep scoring and scoring.
Earlier, the Cowboys got defeated by the 49’ers.
The Super Bowl is coming in February:
two teams will enter, one leave victorious.
Yet to be determined who they will be,
the two that will battle for ultimate victory.
They have been slogging and slugging
all season long, to get to the highest level.
Another February fight and trophy hoist.
Player high-fives and mothers’ eyes moist.
Will all the bruises and broken bones be
worth the prize won at such high cost?
Medical bills and therapy agonies balanced
with NFL salaries, bonuses and memoirs galore.
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Politico Embarrassment
We used to read about the famous in the paper,
editorials illuminated their surprising errors;
if we were lucky some big name would
end up on the police beat in the back page,
then we could cluck our tongues and gossip.
Later we would see their faces on TV,
in some grainy lineup photo perhaps,
the mighty again ‘brought low’ by scandal.
The rest of us reassured that even though
we did not have a high station in life,
we surely could not take a fall like that!
Now welcome to the age of instant notoriety.
a tweet or post gets you there in moments!
Your name appears on ten million screens,
spoken aloud by masses of young lips.
Bask in that glow of fame, or infamy...
Because in moments you will be unseated
by the next Internet media sensation.
Sorry, it was fun while it lasted – or not.
