Posting once meant sending a letter
Written in cursive, observing good form;
Decency good - politeness much better
Both mindful and kind, was most people’s norm
The internet came with lightning bolt speed
And missives, then dismissives sped about
The craft of writing, soon began to bleed
And Johnson’s words* became a lost redoubt
Soon all could chat alone, with ‘friends’ worldwide
A foamy blather, that soon turned cruel
As politics dilated our divide
And set us, verbal swords in hand, to duel
We fight and hate for ‘likes’ - and our pretenses
We **** our souls with “panem et circenses”**
©2018 C. Green
Jun 24, 2018
Jun 24, 2018 at 12:26 AM UTC
Posting once meant sending a letter
Written in cursive, observing good form;
Decency good - politeness much better
Both mindful and kind, was most people’s norm
The internet came with lightning bolt speed
And missives, then dismissives sped about
The craft of writing, soon began to bleed
And Johnson’s words* became a lost redoubt
Soon all could chat alone, with ‘friends’ worldwide
A foamy blather, that soon turned cruel
As politics dilated our divide
And set us, verbal swords in hand, to duel
We fight and hate for ‘likes’ - and our pretenses
We **** our souls with “panem et circenses”**
©2018 C. Green
* “What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.”—Samuel Johnson 1799.
** panem et circenses. Latin, literally "bread and circuses," supposedly coined by Juvenal and describing the cynical formula of the Roman emperors for keeping the masses content with food and entertainment (gladiator combat).
*** Literallly “bread and mindlessness”