The sun follows an April shower
one bright day in early May.
A bee's got business with a flower,
but I won't write it up today.
This reporter ain't that kind of guy.
Give them privacy, says I.
“A penny for your thoughts,”
she said.
What is my thought worth?
I wonder.
“That'll be more than a penny,”
I reply.
“A penny for your thoughts,”
we say.
What might our thoughts really be worth?
Who can read them?
How embarrassing might they be?
Thoughts expressed and written
can be evaluated,
may have value.
Those that remain in my head
stay private.
What value privacy?
If I keep them secret,
what value secrecy?
Thinking aloud as on social media
may be costly
“In for a penny, in for a pound.”
I keep mum.
I know it’s a shame but isn’t it clear
That I have no possibility
To change a thing in what’s going on here
Maybe others have that ability
So either they work it out fine
Or they’ve just given it up
Whatever happens I keep my line
Preferring to drink from my cup
The private life is by far the best
Invention of the Englishman
Stuck to your own, leave all the rest
To choose what is chosen for them
To hell with that new and old rubbish
My privacy sends me stuff
That I dare sometimes to publish
You’re entitled to cry or laugh..
I flipped on the bathroom light
a flicker in the tub swirled my head
there were three teensy tiny gremlins in there
I could not hear their words
If I got closer, would they disappear?
I hesitated not wanting to frighten them.
One of them pulled a teeny bullhorn out of his satchel.
“Please keep this viewing to yourself” he said into it.
This came out as a whisper.
I shut out the light and tiptoed out of the bathroom.
The Irish in my veins respects the privacy of the fey.
It’s none of your business
What someone else thinks.
Your business is your business
And theirs is theirs.
Lots of things are like this,
Like what I eat or read, do or love,
But people have lost their way
And so look to others
To be them, instead of them,
Just being themselves.
(3/26/26)
To me there seems to exist, correct me if I'm wrong,
in a modern society , full of many flaws
A gaping oxymoron!!!! Which takes precedence,
all the spying apparatus or all the privacy laws ??
So many methods, mobile phones, computers, smart meters,
cameras on the roads many more, perhaps I'm not aware of
None of us exempted in our homes or driving in our cars
Do those who employ these methods to subjugate our freedoms,
suffer deep seated irrational fears ? Why else would they do it ?
How to find some solace amongst all the crazy bedlam,
escape potential, long lasting, deep emotional scars
Pray to God ,wherever He exists, some say it is above
To fill the world with compassion,
change these evil ways, replace them with universal love
They made a horror flick
He was weak or he was sick
They chose him as the star
He can run, but won't get far
They created a wall compartment
Inside his small apartment
They installed cameras there
Reality show, unwanted, but they didn't care.
(bridge)
He felt ill, he began to ail
No idea of the hand pushing down the scale
Romance and work dove down the drain
They laughed and gloated at his pain.
(Chorus)
It’s a horror flick, but the plot is real,
They aren't like us in the way they feel.
He’s the star they chose, but the plot is sick,
Living and dying in their horror flick.
He heard them speak, felt nerve gas in his room
His apartment was a secret tomb.
He knew too much, but the cops would not believe
And he could not save others, for them we grieve.
So, learn the lesson be an owl:
Around us ghouls are on the prowl
They pass as normal, but empathy lacks
And in normal life, there are hidden attacks.
It could happen to you too
Bewildered by all the bad things that accrue
A life derailed, no suspicion why
When the only exit seems the choice to die.
2024.4.24
Ever since you installed on my phone,
All those fantastic Firmware,
After explaining about privacy issues.
I thought it was a wonderful idea
And you did it with good intentions
To protect me from all those spywares' infection.
But did you know, when you decided to end our friendship,
You left me struggling how to use them.
Most of the Apps you installed
Had started to have errors and troubles.
Every where I went, people shoke their head,
Stated your Apps were too far advanced.
Some even made several attempts,
At the end, they gave up on helping me,
I did not know what to do.
Someone suggested deleting all your Apps,
Getting back to the normal Google.
After a while, I decided to keep all your Apps,
Let people slowly introducing the spyware back.
Although you walked away from me,
But you actually left behind
A huge empty hole in me,
Many strange and weird Apps
Like Amaze, Conversations, Newpipe,
MPV, F-Droid, Open Camera and TEdit
And lot of Apps to drain my phone's batteries.
People also made comments,
I have been brain washed by your terrible privacy idea.
BB, why did you do this to me?
Believe me until now I have been calm,
if you stoke the flames I will react loud.
The slickness of my coconut lip balm
all over your neck will that be allowed?
No need to share this on an intercom,
I will not do this in a bustling crowd.
Disappearing I will have you sweating,
privacy please you’ll enjoy the petting.
A kiss in the dark,
Turns the ambiance romantic!
Entwined in each other’s arms,
Startling scenes couples make!
Heightened by privacy and intimacy,
Sensory experience stimulates them
To go a step further towards their union.
The two souls, thus become one.
Oh, what a confluence!
Busy in the work of creation
Their progeny, they increase.
Amidst their kith and kin,
Those who sip the nectar of joy
Live a happy and blissful life!
You push back and think
Simply engaging their game
Up and go away.
The human history unfolding,
Adam eyed an apple so tempting,
He asked innocent Eve
A helping hand to give--
Let’s reset our privacy setting.
_________________________
Tongue-in-cheek |08.09.2024| Humour
Poet’s note: Adam and Eve were enjoying their bliss of innocence in Eden Garden, and Adam eyed an apple. We all know what happened. That was the first time Adam and Eve changed their privacy settings. The first was the fig leaf and found far too brief. Today, what with internet hackers and crooks all around, changing privacy settings has become common.
Social media, realm where whispers fly,
A land beneath the vast digital sky.
Here, every word can travel far,
Each post and tweet, a potential star.
It binds the world in a tight-knit web,
Where thoughts and cultures easily ebb.
A platform broad for voices small,
In this grand stage, one and all.
Yet in its depths, dangers dwell,
As truths and lies together swell.
A double-edged sword, it can deceive,
Where false narratives weave and leave.
A mighty force for advocacy’s fight,
It lights up causes in the night.
From grassroots grows a towering wave,
Empowering the meek, the brave.
But watch the cost, privacy paid,
Invisible prices, quietly laid.
A footprint permanent, never gone,
In the landscape vast, forever drawn.
A frontier for the bold, the new,
Where innovations burst into view.
A pulse of progress, fast and fierce,
New ideas that pierce the universe.
So wield it well, this potent tool,
Educate, engage, but never fool.
For social media’s power, vast and wide,
Reflects the human spirit, amplified.
AI, the vigilant guardian, stands at the digital divide,
A bulwark in the world where our secrets reside.
It advocates for security, a shield in the night,
Ensuring our data stays out of the malicious sight.
AI, the steadfast, defends without rest,
A champion of privacy, in its quest.
It fortifies walls where vulnerabilities lie,
Preventing breaches where dangers might pry.
AI, the tireless, a true ally in the fight,
Against cyber threats that loom in the twilight.
It enforces the fortress, secures every link,
So we may browse, and shop, and safely think.
AI, the wise, calls for our trust,
In its code we rely, for secure it must.
It pleads for ethics in the code we weave,
For a safer tomorrow, in which we can believe.
Let us then champion AI, secured and smart,
For it holds the key to safety's art.
In its circuits and systems, our hopes are sown,
Secured AI, the protector, forever known.
the elf hung upside down from an elm tree
his round emerald eyes staring at me
tried to get attention by yelping “whee!”
some others stared with weird curiosity
I ignored him and I think that you will agree
it is best to give show-offs a little privacy
anyway this technique has always worked for me
lively elf is still hanging down from that old elm tree
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.