What a world we live in,
Communication-wise;
It used to be so easy—
Not much to memorize.

But now we need a password
With all this darned IT,
And make it difficult and strong
To gain security.

It now seems near impossible
To reach a human voice;
Instead, robotic questions,
Press numbers, make your choice.

Log in, log out, give user-name,
Create a memory word,
Then enter your pin number;
It all seems so absurd.

We “talk” to virtual agents,
Communicate by text,
And when we can’t get answers,
We end up feeling vexed.

Interactions now inhuman,
Dealing only with machines;
The friendly voice, the smiling face
Replaced by soulless screens,

So if you now have read this rant
And reached this end of page,
With all the discontent expressed,
You’ve surely guessed my age!


© by Nick Balmforth.
Used with the author’s permission.