Monday morning –  and the sun shines bright.

The birds are all singing, my spirit is light.

The library is calm, though it’s busy as a hive

Then my world turns to chaos when I hit F5.

 

My Inbox was clear…everything in its folder.

I’d conquered the beast, could I feel any bolder?

But quick as a flash, instant karma did arrive.

My confidence crumbled when I hit F5.

 

With diligence and tenacity I worked even harder.

I answered and archived and deleted with fervor.

My heart was now racing, and my fingers were flying

I again beat the enemy, and sweet victory was mine.

 

But still I had to look, just to make sure.

To see that empty screen was, of course, the allure.

Was my foe defeated or did it survive

I just had to know… so I hit F5.

 

Oh, how could this be, what force was against me?

67 new emails appeared there to mock me.

The junk mail, and assignments, the clear and confusing,

the questions and answers, the urgent and amusing.

 

The trivial and critical, penological, and otherwise…

Were all there again to torment and demoralize.

What evil had invaded, as in vain I did strive?

What power could eradicate the curse of F5?

 

To ignore this plague, was of course, not an option.

There were those who were watching and awaiting discussion.

Respond quickly I must, though there are books that need shelving,

There’s CDs to be cleaned, and I-L-L-s that need sending.

 

That and more must now wait, for the emails still gather,

Amassing like crows, Hitchcock’s birds on a wire.

Now conceding defeat I will write my last line…

“Imagine all she could’ve achieved, had she not hit F5”.

 

Lyla Brekke

Nov.2008