Enjoy the Web but Don’t Get Tangled
That science has been for us a boon I think you will agree
From daily grind and drudgery it sets our spirits free
We have to thank the scientists for research knows no bounds
Discovering and inventing things heretofore not found
But science alone might have remained arid ideology
Without its application in practical technology
So down the years these boffins have changed the way we live
A fact for which our grateful thanks we readily should give
The early work of scientists and ingenious engineers
Wrought huge machines with pistons and complicated gears
They lifted things, pushed them along and kept the mines quite dry
Such powerful machines, thus the nation changed thereby
We saw before our eyes a growing Revolution
For every challenge industry would yield a ready-made solution
What e’r our need, or problems quite refractory
The answer surely could be found within our local factory
As years went by the fruits of science touched every modern nation
Technology made to respond what e’r the situation
Chemical, mechanical, electrical, even jet propulsion
Willingly adopted without the least compulsion
Thus o’er the years the pace of change was evident to all
Large cities, congestion, increasing urban sprawl
But science had also generated considerable wealth
These funds provided for our needs and to promote our health
And in due course the sciences of the past did gradually mature
No longer simply a way in which to master crude nature
Research then applied to the field of communication
To draw us near and thus avoid any alienation
For decades the telegraph, the radio and the phone
Could keep each one of us in touch with those at home
And in due time computers and then the Internet
An even slicker system in time it did beget
Although not many this concept did foresee
Thank goodness for the genius of Tim Berners-Lee
His World Wide Web around the globe would span
Perhaps the greatest gift of all to everyman
Thus by means of this masterly innovation
Links could be forged with each and every nation
And in a instant data drawn from every distant land
Is ours by clicking it when linked into broadband
Thus all we needed to ensure that we possess the facts
Of any sphere of knowledge, or any person’s acts
A simple lesson showing how the web to navigate
And thus the store of knowledge we thus can actuate
In this way access to knowledge hoarded by each profession
Became for every man their right, their very own possession
There is no doubt the opening of this mighty treasure
Expanded power through knowledge in ever greater measure
But perhaps a word of caution about this web worldwide
Too many facts, too quickly found, can lose us in its tide
And simply when we come to think of every answer thus on tap
An attitude can easily develop which then becomes a trap
Everything that is worthwhile requires effort on our part
We therefore need thus to apply both mind and even heart
The web is here to stay and in that we rejoice
But how we think and how we act is ever our own choice
Thanks to the pioneers of science for these useful innovations
For their research has brought to us great help, real benefaction
And when life is dull and sometimes lacks that necessary glitter
All pals can readily unite on Face Book and on Twitter!
Ken Fisher
thebardofkelvindale 