–– by Robert Edmondson ––
This world we inhabit, with its locks and its keys,
Is not one of merit intended to please.
With a key for the entrance and a key for the gate
Of the park or the playground, the beach or estate.
With a key for the office to let workers enter
And exclude the riffraff, the angry dissenter.
With a key for the front door and a key for the back
And a key for the suitcase you wish to unpack.
A key for the garage, the bike and the car
And a key for the cupboard that holds your guitar.
With keys for the tools that you store in your shed
And keys for the biscuits and keys for the bread
So many good reasons why we should have keys,
To protect us from villains, from death and disease
Our lives are controlled by these keys in a bunch
That jingle and jangle but I’ve a firm hunch
That our worries are greater the more that we bear
Them in purses or pockets, in clothes that we wear.
Keys may not be metal, but may be a group
Of letters and symbols thus forming a troop.
Some keys come with plastic in the form of a card
Which must not be lost for then life becomes hard
The password gives access to your photos and notes
Your financial records and your artistic quotes.
Passwords and passcodes with tests for ID
To prove I’m no robot, I still remain me.
It must not be too simple, with an obvious look,
To frustrate the burglar, the fraudster, the crook
With no distinctive date nor a prominent name
“More cryptic the better” the experts proclaim.
They ought to be changed as a matter of course
And different for every important resource.
No copy should be on a dining room wall
But a random arrangement is hard to recall.
So much to remember as day follows day –
Modernity seems to have led us astray!