Tom Cunningham Poet Rhyme

Notes About The Poem

picture credit , ADOBE STOCK.

SOUP ENGINEERS WORKED AROUND THE CLOCK TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE.

Black Sunday 21st October 2018

Twenty first of October in two thousand and eighteen
Was the worst disaster poetry soup had seen
Poems wiped off the website as all the poets slept
When the disaster unfolded many poets wept.

Some had spent hours composing their verses
But no backup made, the air soon filled with curses
Contest entries too vanished without trace
Sponsors left fuming they had nothing to place.

And the beautiful comments people said about you
Into a cyber space black hole they all vanished too
The next night the poems, to everyone’s dismay
Returned to the site, ‘twas like Groundhog day.

Some blamed the Russians, some blamed the C.I.A.
Others wanted revenge for what happened that day
But do rest assured, soup said “have no fear
Free membership for everyone, for a whole year”

Now that’s a kind act I’m sure you’ll agree
Remember worse disasters have happened at sea
The moral of this verse is to remind everyone
Make a backup of your work when it is done.





(This did happen, not sure about the free membership though lol.
But it is a wake up call; always back up your work.)

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Andrea Dietrich February 26, 2026 at 11:50 PM Hmmm I kind of remember something like this but in my memory it was not this long ago. Nice satire if it. I always save my poems in files and ignoring them out as well! Tom Cunningham February 27, 2026 at 1:47 AM Thank you Andrea, was a black day for sure, I always back up every few days using soups back up your poems as pdfs on two devices..used to print them off but it was a faff. Sadly a few lost poems, thankfully there hasn't been another since. Tom

Indiana Shaw September 6, 2021 at 12:38 PM Nice, Tom, you depicted this so well, as I just write sometimes straight into submit poems page I would in fact lose a few of mine forever, mind some of mine need losing, so, ha ha ha ; ) Tom Cunningham September 6, 2021 at 12:46 PM Thank you Indiana, always write mine on notes then transfer them to here, the back up feature on here is brilliant, I wrote a blog on it a while back and many didn't know about it. I do it twice, on my phone and also an ipad, Tom

John Watt November 13, 2020 at 5:46 PM Your words of wisdom are always apropos ~ back up your work. I received a comment once from a fellow whose laptop crashed and he said he lost over 700 poems! Interesting that history repeated itself last July when Soup crashed for 2 days. I think the biggest heartache was that people couldn't be in contact with their poetry friends during Covid lockdown. It reminded us not to take anything for granted, especially friends ~ John Tom Cunningham November 14, 2020 at 3:24 AM Thank you very much John, once a week I use soups back up, the export poems feature and just delete the previous one, it saves all your work and its only a small file, I cant imagine losing 700, what a terrible thing to happen. You're right, we should take nothing for granted. Enjoy your weekend. Tom

Gary Bateman November 13, 2018 at 2:40 PM Hello Tom, Your words here are very powerful and quite poignant. None of us can take any chances at all. (All my stuff is privately backed up absolutely since I write for outside publication beyond Poetry Soup.) A FAV too for taking the time to write this important scenario. Better for all of us to be safe, than sorry!! Best Always, Gary Tom Cunningham November 13, 2018 at 4:12 PM Thank you Gary, it was a black day for many on here I lost many comments I had made but only one poem, but I lost some work due to a powercut years ago so always back up everything now. Tom.

Ivy Vresk November 13, 2018 at 9:21 AM it was heartbreaking day for all of us here ,thank you Tom for this poem ,I'll make sure to have back up ! Ivy Tom Cunningham November 13, 2018 at 9:57 AM Thanks Ivy, it certainly caused many some problems but it's always wise to do a back up of your work. Tom.

Darlene De Beaulieu November 8, 2018 at 1:28 PM Hello Tom, I always have a backup poem because I keep all the poems I write. Have a nice day my friend. Tom Cunningham November 8, 2018 at 3:37 PM Thank you Darlene, its a wise thing to do, I even make a backup of my backup. Tom.

Andrea Dietrich November 3, 2018 at 9:00 PM Just so your note you left me here. Gosh, I am really thankful I was busy that black day! Tom Cunningham November 4, 2018 at 2:04 AM I glad you were not affected by it Andrea. Tom.

Lindsay Laurie October 28, 2018 at 7:25 PM G'day Tom ... a timely reminder to all that the Internet is not completely safe, but I thought everyone would copy and paste - perish the thought - thanks Tom - Lindsay Tom Cunningham October 29, 2018 at 3:31 AM Thanks Lindsay, when things go wrong they do big time, got stung years ago, never again.I even back up the back up lol. Tom.

Andrea Dietrich October 28, 2018 at 2:44 PM I think I was too busy to be here that day. Very cleverly written. I am glad I escaped it all. Did the poems ever show back up! I can't tell from your fictionalized version of the story. Witty job Tom Cunningham October 28, 2018 at 3:05 PM Thanks Andrea, no, they all vanished along with comments, replies and soupmails, I had to resubmit my poem and re enter it into a contest, I think what they had to do was go back to an earlier time so a few hours of work vanished. Tom.

Demetrios Trifiatis October 27, 2018 at 6:49 AM Lucky was I to be away for many a days dearest, Tom! Your poem is so delightful that despite the tragedy you made me smile! Tom Cunningham October 27, 2018 at 9:21 AM Thank you Demetrios, I was one of the lucky ones, only lost one and some comments.You too were lucky. Tom.

Debjani Mitra October 27, 2018 at 4:58 AM What a great idea to pen a poem on this disaster. I too lost one of my poem...and I kept thinking that it was my fault... Tom Cunningham October 27, 2018 at 9:19 AM Thanks Debjani, hopefully it won't be a regular thing. Tom.

Harry Horsman October 26, 2018 at 8:55 AM Clever poetry, Tom, love the free membership, 'tongue in cheek' but why not? You have heaps of comments and deservingly so,,but as is usual today, 'Sorry' and then nothing, to appease those that lost so much.. Tom Cunningham October 26, 2018 at 9:05 AM Thank you Harry, you're right about companies today, buried in the depths of the small print is a not our problem message. Tom.

Janice Canerdy October 26, 2018 at 7:15 AM Tom, this is a GREAT poem-- in every respect! It's skillfully- written and so clever! A favorite. Janice Tom Cunningham October 26, 2018 at 7:25 AM Thank you Janice, it was a rare event and I felt that it should be remembered in some way, it affected many but hopefully they'll learn that sometimes things can go wrong. I learnt that lesson a few years ago. Tom.

Alexis Y. October 25, 2018 at 5:12 PM Hi Tom, I agree, this was a terrible thing to happen on the soup. I didn't even check to see if some of mines vanished. I guess I better go check.Congratulations on getting the poem of the day:-)Alexis Tom Cunningham October 26, 2018 at 1:59 AM Thank you Alexis, from what I gather it was data from a few hours of Sunday night. I dont think historical data was affected. Tom.

Besma Riabi Dziri October 25, 2018 at 4:41 PM Wonderful write Tom! Sorry for having missed your beautiful and masterful work of art! Congratulations on your POTD, an honour well deserved! My deepest regards. Blessed always with poetry beauty and blessings of God. Tom Cunningham October 26, 2018 at 1:56 AM Thank you very much Besma but no apology needed, I too like many have days where it's not possible to look in on soup. Happy you enjoyed it. Tom.

Kim Rodrigues October 25, 2018 at 9:04 AM Great, Tom! I see why you got POTD! Congrats! Tom Cunningham October 25, 2018 at 9:57 AM Thank you very much Kim, I hope you were not affected by it. Tom.

Arturo Michael October 25, 2018 at 6:00 AM Congratulations Tom...A good one indeed.. Tom Cunningham October 25, 2018 at 9:56 AM Thank you Arturo. Tom.

Connie Marcum Wong October 24, 2018 at 10:51 PM You came up with a great poem to express the upset that occured for some Soup members that day! Someone asked me if this happens often and I assured them that it does not. I told them I joined in January 2010 and that it was the first time it ever happened, to my knowledge, since I joined. True, you always need a backup of any work you post. Very good Tom! Very deserving of POTD! Congratulations my friend! : ) Tom Cunningham October 25, 2018 at 2:26 AM Thank you Connie, it was only when I went back on to answer a comment that I noticed something amiss. Some lost a lot more than me.Hopefully it won't happen again but who knows. Tom.

Viv Wigley October 24, 2018 at 9:13 PM Crisis averted! I'm paranoid about backing up data after a bad episode four years back. Fine write, Tom, and congrats on POTD! regards, Viv Tom Cunningham October 25, 2018 at 2:21 AM Thanks Viv,so frustrating when that happens, bring back pen and paper I say lol.

Heidi Sands October 24, 2018 at 6:32 PM Congratulations for your POTD Tom :) Good advice. And thankfully the problem is resolved. :) Tom Cunningham October 25, 2018 at 2:19 AM Thank you very much Heidi, thankfully everything okay now, hope folk realise that these things can result in dataloss and back up from now on. Tom

Team Poetrysoup October 24, 2018 at 1:42 PM Great poem. Sorry for the problem Soupers. That's the first time EVER we've had a loss of database files. Stupid hardware errors...or was it the Russians! Brandy Nicole October 24, 2018 at 4:12 PM Cute!! Blaming the Russians. :) You are lucky it is the first time this has happened. Technology has upgraded for sure. Sometimes though, even new hardware has glitches. Try using old hardware and hoping things stay in place, as it should. ~ Brandy Tom Cunningham October 24, 2018 at 2:50 PM Thank you, thankfully the problem was short lived, you did well to sort out the problem so quickly. Regards. Tom.

Maureen McGreavy Pigeon Tart October 24, 2018 at 12:11 PM Fabulous fun! Congratulations on POTD Tom! :) xomo Tom Cunningham October 24, 2018 at 12:56 PM Thank you Maureen, happy you enjoyed it. Tom.

Wren Rushing October 24, 2018 at 11:54 AM Congrats on poem of the day Tom. I wasn't sure what had happened, now I know. Tom Cunningham October 24, 2018 at 12:56 PM Thank you Wren, I thought something was amiss Sunday night when I went to answer a comment and it had gone. Thankfully it didn't affect you. Tom.

Mike Gentile October 24, 2018 at 11:52 AM Such a fun poem Tom, Timing is everything and so is a poetic reminder Congrats on POTD!!! Tom Cunningham October 24, 2018 at 12:53 PM Thanks very much Mike, I know many were worse off than me, woke about 03.00 the next morning and the idea came to me, must have been thinking about it in my sleep lol. Tom.

Brandy Nicole October 24, 2018 at 11:49 AM I agree, saving your work is the best method. Your thoughts hold truth, with a light touch of humor. Congratulations Tom, on Poem of the Day. Many blessings to you. ~ Brandy Tom Cunningham October 24, 2018 at 12:51 PM Thank you Brandy, we do forget sometimes but we had a power cut once and I lost a lot of work, I learnt the hard way. Tom.

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