2024 Summer Holidays - Out of Office Poem
Andrew Treloar,
The Text Arriving
With apologies to John Donne and
his poem The Sun Rising
Buzzing loud noise, unwanted text,
Why do you thus,
On tablet, phone and watch dare summon us?
Must I in answer interrupt my rest?
Annoying loud device, go chide
Late school boys and their parents' ears,
Tell newlyweds the hire car arrives,
Call office staff to meetings far and near.
For holidays no season know nor clime
Nor emails, texts, and chats, which we have left behind.
Your screen, that shines so bright and strong
It makes me think
"I could obscure and cloud it in a wink",
Yet I would miss the lyrics to this song!
I'll seek the settings screen at once,
And dial the angry brightness down,
And thus show all that I am not a dunce
Or even worse, an aging techno-clown.
When I am baffled by my new device,
I go online, to seek out free advice.
My phone is my domain to rule,
Not our helpdesk's.
I've no desire for device reset requests,
I need no guidance; I'm no fool!
I'll master my technology
In which the world's contracted thus
A world of content there for me
Indeed for me an arguable surplus
And yet, despite all this, I'll not forswear
This phone. My servant still, still without peer.