Inundated!

 

 

Here is a word

That was hitherto unknown

But with social media platforms

It’s become my norm.

 

Inundated!

Not with work or rain

But the torrent of information

Is a mighty strain.

 

YouTube, WhatsApp,

Linked-in and Instagram,

Twitter now X and TicToc reels,

Information like sand.

 

And by the way

There is also Facebook

And several other social media

At which we look. 

 

Inundated!

Regarding the senders

And those who do not respond

Become offenders.

 

‘Tis almost impossible

To respond to all

So careful, selective prioritizing

Must be the call.

 

 

Inundated!

You see what I mean?

Such brain overload and fatigue,

One could scream.

 

All of this information

To daily assimilate

Can sometimes create an attitude

Of love and hate.

 

Loving the apps

But hating the exchange

Especially relating to the senders

That appear deranged.

 

Inundated!

And having to sift through

Inordinately lengthy articles

Is not easy to do.

 

How else to know

If it’s important or not

If one does not pay some attention

To the whole lot?

 

 

Inundated!

Overwhelmed and drugged

And no hope in the near future

For being debugged.

 

For what would we do

Without these apps

That make information as quick

As thunderclaps?

 

Inundated!

For the “want-to-know”

For whom knowledge is power

To have on the go.

 

Little time to sift

And to aptly respond

Thus, this inundation goes on

And unrelentingly on.

 

Inundated!

With incoming info:

The good, the bad and the ugly;

All levels on show.

 

And this is every day

For hours on end

Sifting through information

From stranger and friend.

 

I am fortunate

Since I am a retiree

But think of all those people

Who work daily.

 

 

 

From local politics

To the region and beyond,

To religious and social issues

It’s like a storm. 

 

A tumult as it were

Bombarding the mind

And even for retirees like me,

Such little time.

 

See what I mean?

I am inundated

And to take time off responding

Is not appreciated.

 

I wish I could stop

But I know I cannot

For I am addicted to information;

Yes, the whole lot.

 

Inundated!

Overloaded, overwhelmed!

Only send me what is important

If you are my friend.

 

Not only what’s serious

But the occasional joke

And send me encouraging articles

That give me hope.

 

If I do not respond

You can nudge me again

But regarding harsh criticism,

Please refrain!

 

 

Inundated!

Not with work or rain

But the torrent of information

Is a mighty strain.

 

Stewart Russell © October 13, 2025

 

Identity Theft

 

 

Steal another’s property

That’s larceny,

Steal another’s wife

That’s adultery.

 

Steal another’s information

That’s identity theft

And when this happens

There is little left.

 

This invariably happens

On the Internet,

It is the cleverest thief

One has ever met.

 

They will claim your NIS

And your bank account

And hit you for hundreds

Even above that amount.

 

You’ll have a hard time

Proving you are you

And there is much more

A stolen identity will do.

 

 

It happens on Facebook

If you’ve been hacked

And often it’s real difficult

To get your identity back.

 

“It can’t happen to me”

Never say that,

But organize yourself,

Don’t fall for that trap.

 

Keep your information

Very close to your chest

For a stolen identity

Will also steal your rest.

 

Stewart Russell © October 20, 2020

 

The Conkie Issue

 

 

I couldn’t make a conkie

Even to save my life

But I am a conkie connoisseur,

You could ask my wife.

 

I know a good conkie

Even before I taste it

And this, I can assure you,

Is out of habit.

 

Take the smell first of all

Followed by the shine

And all I can think of saying is,

All is mine.

 

Taste and texture

One must not ignore,

A conkie with these attributes

Simply says more.

 

I have had two recently

And they were bombs,

In my connoisseur disposition

I ate with aplomb.

 

 

Regarding raisins

There were very few,

As a matter of fact, in one,

I counted only two.

 

I really prefer my conkies

To be raisin free

But I won’t fret about two,

That won’t kill me.

 

However, I know someone

This would kill instantly

But I won’t tell you his name

It’s between him and me.

 

And all his Facebook fans

That he often bamboozles

With his thoughtful anecdotes

And provoking puzzles.

 

 

Cronkies are outlawed;

The ‘r’ is for raisins

And only recently I found out

He said it’s a sin.

 

To put raisins in a conkie

Is to make it impure,

That is Corey’s philosophy

Need I say more?

 

Oops! His name slipped out,

What a travesty!

Please my friend, Corey,

Please forgive me.

 

I’ve already posted this,

I cannot take it out

And the fact that I just lied

Is without a doubt.

 

I will take back the lie

But the raisins will remain

And I must also tell you

So will your name.

 

I am definitely sure

You are not one of those people

That will call this malice

And sue me for libel.

 

 

Like you, my dear friend,

I prefer raisin-less conkies

But one or two or even three

Won’t matter much to me.

 

More than these

I would surely blow my top,

A raisin slice is not a conkie-

It certainly is not.

 

Stewart Russell © November 21, 2023

 

Facebook Friend Requests

 

 

Facebook is something else

I mean really something though,

Sending me friend requests

From people I don’t even know.

 

Friend request after request,

There are so many on my list

That for the most part I ignore

And hope Facebook would desist.

 

But they just keep on coming

Local, regional, international too,

Some already my Facebook family

And maybe even from you.

 

But this one truly stumped me

And this is only recently,

A friend request from someone

Not only dead but buried.

 

 

A Facebook friend request

Straight from the great beyond

And this is a former teaching colleague

Who has long been gone.

 

I know of one other person

To whom this has also happened,

If the dead is now using Facebook

We ought to feel threatened.

 

I’ve been made to understand

That Facebook uses an algorithm

That brings together users of like tastes

As part of its operating system.

 

Having received such a request

I have telephoned for confirmation

Only to be met with a response

Of resolute negation.

 

Now what really concerns me

Are requests from the dead,

This kind of operation by Facebook

Is messing with my head.

 

 

Dare I telephone the dead

To ascertain such a friend request,

I would be considered a lunatic

With zero intelligence left.

 

However, here is what I will do

The next time the opportunity arises,

I will investigate this matter

And share with you any surprises.

 

 

 

Next time I go to a graveyard

I will diligently check for the Internet

And whether it is FLOW of Digicel,

I would know what to expect.

 

Meanwhile,

 

If you get a friend request from me

After I am dead and gone,

Consider it a technology breakthrough,

I am calling from the beyond.

 

Stewart Russell © August 22, 2023

 

My Late Great Mother-In-Law

 

I marvel at these portraits

Of a woman whose life I shared,

Not as her husband or children

But as an in-law she held dear.

I feel particularly honoured

To have been accorded such a treat

And in the words of her late husband,

She was wonderfully sweet.

 

I came on these portraits today

While on her daughter's Facebook page,

She too has gone to the great beyond
At a relatively early age.

She has left many family photos
Like the one that heads this poem,
Occasionally I visit her page
And take a memory trip through them. 

The memories they left are lasting
Though still tinged with a little pain,
But what is the use of sunshine
If there is never any rain?

 

This poem was not in the plan
But it came rather spontaneously
As I reminisced over those photos
Compliments of Pearl's photo Gallery.

It is not usual I post twice in a day
But I had to do it today
Just to honour a great mother-in-law
And to say thanks in this way.

Stewart Russell (c) December 23, 2019  

Compute the Following

 

Software and hardware

Upload and download

Uppercase and lowercase

Underline and bold

Online and offline

Twitter and Facebook

Safari and Firefox

Yahoo and Outlook

Buffer and surf

Freeze and crash

Google and view

Recycle bin and trash

Cut and paste

Insert and delete

Backslash, forward slash

Undo and repeat

Edit and format

Font and style

Tools and tables

Layout and file

Documents and folders

Text box and chart

Shapes and themes

Elements and SmartArt

Scroll box and scroll bar

Background and portrait

Megabyte and memory

Desktop and landscape

Log off and shut down

Spreadsheet and Excel

Sleep and hibernate

Apple, Samsung and Dell

Stewart Russell © 2013