ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

After writing this I realised that it was my life story - right there, right now..... and believe me I am trying as hard as I can to stay afloat.


SLIPPING THROUGH THE CRACKS .... Maureen Clifford © The #ScribblyBarkPoet


She wondered why she couldn't sleep - she woke up wrecked each morning,
on weekends seemed her eyelids closed just as the day was dawning,
the social isolation became somewhat of a worry
and every day it seemed to be just hurry, hurry, hurry.
The days were never long enough, despite the fancy trimmings,
the automatic washer, and the dishwasher....not winning.
The smart robotic vacuum did the floors all on its own;
she ordered shopping now on-line using her mobile phone.
The conversations with her kids had dwindled o'er the years -
three teenagers did not converse or relate to their peers.
Answering machines took messages - a link from home to home
at times she felt just a tad vexed, but no real cause to moan.


She often sat and pondered on the nuances of life
suspected that her husband had joys other than his wife.
She felt the pressure building as she struggled to hold on
to her grip of this technology which had never been strong.
She sometimes felt that she was disappearing through the cracks -
a gradual diminishment - a subtle cyber attack
caused by many phishing emails, and the scams now running rife
out there - each day a minefield, lack of vigilance caused strife.
'twas no wonder that she couldn't sleep, her head was in a whirl
and whilst she wasn't stupid she was still a 60's girl
who typed much too fast for Facebook - constantly they shut her out
claiming she must be a robot, and of that they had no doubt.

She'd learnt to type at High School - touch typing was then the go,
and the decades working in an office meant she wasn't slow
so whilst that had been an attribute - one of which she was proud
it now saw her quite singled out and expelled from the crowd.
She didn't need the spell-check thing - she knew orthography
No calculator was required, she'd learnt at Mother's knee
the three 'R's' that schooling required -an A grade student she ....
so why was it she now felt 'stretched' by this technology?
And why did it concern her so if cash she didn't carry?
And why was it she was finding life just a little scary?
And why was driving their new car to her a little daunting?
So much that she never drove far - curtailed her cavorting.

Increasingly she found that lunches with her female friends
meant little conversation - to the screens their heads would bend
as they checked on email messages, and Facebook connections
disregarding others in the room - careless of interjections.
It made the social scene a joke, she just no longer cared
to spend her time with people who of her were unaware
who could only converse by text with much adulteration
to the written words, all shortened - to her, just one more frustration.
She'd had enough - thought it was time to go on a retreat,
escape out to the country on her own to find her feet,
to get in touch with nature and get a reality check.
She doubted they would miss her.....and perhaps she won't come back.

5.8.2023

Well done Maureen, you have covered it well, and being your own story makes it extra special! (and you certainly aren't alone in that respect)
Once again it makes us wonder where it is all headed and what another generation or Two is going to bring!
I think we all have to kick back a bit more and find that country retreat more often!
I really enjoyed the read.
Cheers
Ron.

Thank you Ron - appreciate you taking the time to read and comment - and delighted you like it.

It was actually written due to my current frustration with being locked out of my own FB pages and in particular the Australian Rhyming Poets page which I administer - it has taken Manfred and myself days to try and get the darn thing up and running again and we are not there yet but hoping we can make it happen - if not it will be 10 years of hard work gone for nothing

Welcome to the 21st century Maureen
What did they used to say ' Things are crook in Tella Rook and crappy in the city' or something like that.

Looking on the bright side mate you still have your future and time to turn things around - well that's what I keep telling myself.

For instance, you still have your mates here - and that's better than a poke in the eye.

Cheers Maureen

Terry

Excellent, Maureen! You've covered a lot here and your understandable frustration is crystal clear! I know you've had terrible trouble with this lock-out stuff, and yet some things that do get on there are appalling - go figure!...As to the rest of it, your words are exceedingly relatable and I'm pretty sure most of us here feel the same. There have been so many changes in a seemingly short span of time, and I too find it difficult to keep up with, comprehend, or accept them at times. I really enjoyed this read.

Can definitely rate to the image of the 60s girl!

No calculator for me either, and definitely an old touch typist from way back!!

Thanks everyone for your kind comments and just to keep you all updated if interested ... I still can't get back into the ARP page as an administrator and Manny and I suspect that I will have to have had my new pages for 30 days before it will allow me to do so. This despite opening 3 new FB pages - one even for Maddison my staffy and establishing 3 new gmail addresses. It just didn't want to know.


So we are doing a work around where I send Manny the post via email - and he copies and pastes it to try and keep the page at least viable until I get back on it.

As for my own personal FB page it doesn't want to know me either ... so if you would like to come visit I would love it if you pop over to my NEW Scribblybarkpoet page and say g'day or, if I have sent you an invitation to 'be my friend' please do if you want to. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095310408531.


With every contact wiped out there are people I will have missed (including my own family) So much for paying for a programme to save your passwords ... when push comes to shove it has proven to be as useless as tits on a bull.