Notes About The Poem

Mary Mary

I learned, this morning, that my Grandmère’s tiny, 
designer tote is a ferriday bag.
 
Mary, Mary, are you worried?
What does your browser know?
Your clicks, your likes 
your secret midnight swipes,
are those things others should know?
 
What about the things you buy,
the posts you read, your favorite feeds,
the secrets you type, then backspace zap,
are tracked, like the buttons you tap.
 
Your ephemeral searches, the links you try,
uneraseable, without the reasons why. 
It stores your trail, reads your mail,
with ever watchful digital eyes.
 
Mary, Mary, have a cookie.
What does your cell phone track?
The trips you plan, the maps you scan,
your location with accuracy GPS, 
friends you text, the songs you select.
 
The news you read for ‘free,’
the streams you prefer to see.
 
Our gadgets know our rhythms
and feed the hungry algorithms
which sell our interests bit by bit,
 
and tweak the clever, coded rules
that predictively model your moves
before they’re consciously known to you
pushing that valeable data to Internet databases.
 
Mary, Mary, quite uneasy, what do your gadgets do?
they connect you to the world and the world to you,
They tease and seduce you but they also pimp you. 
Those apps - with your permission - watch and listen 
to things you say, people you know and places you go.
.
.
Songs for this:
Cookie by NewJeans
Private Eyes - the bird and the bee

ferriday bags - block WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular, and RFID
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

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Fallica Avatar
January 19, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Roses are red, violets are blue. Trump’s an a**hole, Musk is too. / I don’t have a faraday bag. Should this regime not be disposed, I’m sure a peek into my laptop will result in my inclusion in a culling of ‘antifa’ members. / I’d go dark, except then I’d miss you and your work. Maybe I should get a bag. Amazon’s got a 5 pack for only $30. I’ll put it on my list. <3
Vionet Avatar
January 19, 2026 at 7:15 PM
SHE uses a faraday tote, I don't. They'll have to pry my tech from my dead, cold hands. I don't meet important people or do big deals, I'm a NObody. I can just turn my phone off - same as baggin it, I think - but what do I know. I was channeling HER paranoia. =]
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