Gershon Wolf Poet Rhyme

The Road To Freedom and Back

The motorcar, bus, train, plane and jet
   helped free man from the horse and wagon's sweat
The world was his to explore, to conquer, to see
   with a boost from motion pictures, radio and TV

Then before mid-20th century the atom was tamed
   for a quarter-million deaths in Japan it was blamed
Much to the hopeful inventors' chagrin and their shame
   the 'World of the Future' had a stain on its name

Along came computers, promising a world so bright
   of calculation power infinite, to increase the world's light
We churned through the ages of mainframes and minis
   micros and PC's, desktops and laptops and chips too small to see

And now we've smartphones and I-phones with Internet
   Facebook, Instagram, texting and twittering and all that
We shrink with horror at cyber-bullies, cyber-crime
   cyber-stalking, cyber-war --- all else is 'old hat...'

Once sure that AI, all our problems could solve
   yet fairness and ethics it seems to dissolve
Yes, the Future's here now, and I don't like what I see
   more high crime and terror ~ 'twill be the death of me



                  October 23, 2019
 Inspired by Sheri Fresonke Harper's 'Future' contest
            ...although not for the contest

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Heidi Sands October 23, 2019 at 5:26 PM We sure are in a challenging future. Well done Gershon :) Gershon Wolf October 23, 2019 at 7:38 PM I have, perhaps, a foolish, naïve faith in youth, perhaps from observing my youngest kids (22 and 23-year old friends) adjust seamlessly to all the chaos. I suppose that people my age felt the same way about the future in the late '60's. It was ever aye, I suppose. Thanks, Heidi! :-) gw

P.S. Awtry October 23, 2019 at 5:19 PM Yes the future is here and it ain't pretty! Gershon Wolf October 23, 2019 at 7:36 PM It sure as H ain't pretty!! --- at least not to you and me. Others feel differently, of course. And good for them. They're the ones who inherit it! :) gw