The New Silver Gulls

MY TYPEWRITER

~ Edward Dyson

I have a trim typewriter now,

They tell me none is better;

It makes a pleasing, rhythmic row,

And neat is every letter.

I tick out stories by machine,

Dig pars, and gags, and verses keen,

And lathe them off in manner slick.

It is so easy, and it's quick.

And yet it falls short, I'm afraid,

Of giving satisfaction,

This making literature by aid

Of scientific traction;

For often, I can't fail to see,

The dashed thing runs away with me.

It bolts, and do whate'er I may

I cannot hold the runaway.

It is not fitted with a brake,

And endless are my verses,

Nor any yarn I start to make

Appropriately terse is.

'Tis plain that this machine-made screed

Is fit but for machines to read;

So "Wanted" (as an iron censor)

"A good, sound, secondhand condenser!"

Those were the days.  A slow, measured pace. Time to think.   Time to respond.

No rest up for me at the moment.  I am a slave to new technology and the quick turnaround.   On that note, I'm out the door and off to log-on in the office. Four days 'til the holidays and counting.   

Poem first published in The Bulletin, 6 September 1917
Illustration: From www.mariecampbell.com, with immense thanks!  A wonderful illustrator from the UK.