When the Internet Crashed

Booted up in the usual way

Friendly icons reappear

Just like any other day

Through the menus we can steer

 

Keeping to the old routine

Nothing there seems out of place

All laid out neatly on the screen

Every task made commonplace

 

Ready now to check the mail

No doubt the inbox will be stacked

With problems that will our minds assail

And junk mail too, that must distract

 

So let’s waste no time just hit that symbol

Or whatever key will release the flow

Scan down that list, it is so simple

Then it hits us, that awful blow!

 

Don’t tell us that we can’t connect!

Surely we have paid the bill

That’s not something we neglect

Our voice rises rather shrill

 

Further checks we implement

It’s not just email that has crashed

Looks like a real predicament

All connections somehow trashed

 

Not one web site can we open

All our favourites unresponsive

Surely all this can’t be broken

Somehow they’ve been knocked unconscious

 

But let us pause for just a while

Could this be a blessing in disguise

Must this hiatus cramp our style?

To simply panic is unwise

 

This moratorium we can enjoy

In the shut-down let’s relax

Other tasks our minds employ

Ignore ‘Big Data’s’ mega facts

 

Read a book or take a walk

Why not give the car a clean?

Remember how you used to talk

Freed from those all-commanding screens

 

Just think back, not long ago

Before computers made us slaves

Perhaps the pace was rather slow

Not leading to an early grave!

 

So once you’ve taken some time out

And let your nerves calm down a bit

You check once more the screen blackout

And no doubt it will then be fit

 

A few more clicks and we will bet

Those vital beeps will bring us cheer

Herald the returning internet

Dispelling all our angst and fear

 

And perhaps with hindsight we will see

A temporary pause can be corrective

With some thought you might agree

Let’s keep computers in perspective

 

Ken Fisher