Prompt: Do you remember life before the internet?

Back in the day, before the interweb’s call,
Life was quite different, for one and for all.
No endless scrolling, no TikTok’s hypnotic gleam,
Just quiet moments, or so it would seem.

If you sought information, a fact or a date,
You’d dust off an encyclopedia, sealed by fate.
With pages so thin, and pictures quite small,
You’d search for an hour, then forget it all.

A phone book existed, a thick paper brick,
To find out a number, you’d give it a flick.
No quick Google search, no instant reply,
Just alphabetical patience beneath a blue sky.

To meet up with friends, you’d actually call,
On a landline that stuck to the very same wall.
No “On my way!” texts, no emoji so grand,
Just hope that they answered, with receiver in hand.

The TV had channels, well, just one or two,
You’d wait for your show, there was nothing to do.
No Netflix binging, no YouTube’s vast sea,
Just antenna adjustments, for all eyes to see.

So next time you grumble, at Wi-Fi that’s slow,
Or a download that crawls, putting on quite a show,
Remember the days of that simpler, quaint hum,
Before the interweb, from whence it did come.

---

Please subscribe. Let’s support each other. I always follow back genuine writers, poets, and artists.

© Richard J Kirk, writing as Joseph R Mason – 2025. If you want to know why, see: https://josephmasonauthor.com/about/ 

If you like what you read, treat me to a coffee:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/josephiu

Thank you.