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