Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Love-Hate


POETRY JAM
http://poetryjaam.blogspot.com.au/
asks us to consider something we both love and hate.

LOVE-HATE

This one's easy! I love and hate modern technology!
I love the fact that we're all together in one society.
I love the fact that the world has shrunk into a little village,
Even though there are still remains of tribalism and pillage.
I love my old-fashioned computer and the way my typing mistakes
Are very quickly obliterated, in just a couple of shakes!
I love keeping in-touch with relations who, otherwise, would disappear
Except for the standard Christmas letter sent dutifully each year.
I love to delve into Google whenever I need advice
And I love looking for hotel rooms and instantly knowing the price!
But most of all I love the fact that all my little rhymes
Now have an instant readership, not, as in long-past times,
When they languished on scraps of paper read by only me
And were utterly ignored by all, even my family!
*
But I hate that foreign voice I hear and I hate pressing Button One
When I phone for personal treatment and find that there is none.
And I hate the fact that tricksters are lurking in cyberspace
Ready to steal my details, with motives that are base.
And I hate the fact that riots can be organised on the phone;
Facebook advertises sprees, though it doesn't throw a stone.
And I hate the fact that I'm ignorant when it comes to understanding
The ins and outs of computing; the whole thing's too demanding.
I'm left feeling washed-up on life's shore because my generation
Was born too early for it all and it's all a complication.
I hate the fact that children, now, enjoy a virtual game
Instead of climbing real-life trees; I think that's a shame.
It's Ying and Yang, it's yes and no, I'm ambivalent to the core
And, if I live much longer, I'll feel love/hate even more!
*
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                           Beach

MOTHER, MAY I....?

'Mother, may I....?' antique words,
One could say they're for the birds.
Nowadays a little child
Is rarely quite so meek and mild.
'I'm gonna!' are the words we hear,
Loudly shouted in a parent's ear!
But days of old were not so fine,
When children had to toe the line.
Fatherly love was rather frigid;
Rules were set in stone and rigid.
The happy medium is the best,
But how many parents pass the test?

*

8 comments:

Word Tosser said...

Oh, so well said.. both of these subjects.. the likes and dislikes is so me.. thank you for putting it to words..so much better than I can.

Mary said...

Ah yes, there is much to both love and hate in the techno age. And yes, the instant readership of people around the world is definitely a blessing which makes up for a lot of the downside!

What I detest most is trying to push the right button on the telephone to get to a REAL person!

Peggy said...

Well poemed! I guess I mostly love technology but I hate trying to keep up with it!

Helen said...

I'm fairly good with the technology thing ... but detest the 'organized rage' that bubbles up from the internet and that technology.

my hearts love songs said...

i understand and agree with your sentiments in both poems! i do well with technology but there are, as you point out, many negatives and risks which wouldn't be happening without it.

thank you for participating at Poetry Jam!


dani

Lolamouse said...

I'm with you on the technology! One minute I love it, the next I'm ready to throw the computer out the window!

Jennifer Wagner said...

I think you are so right on with each piece!

Mary B. Mansfield said...

Both poems hold so much truth! I have to say when it comes to technology, I love it when it works and really despise it when it doesn't! Nicely done!