Public Computer

[everyadventure]

"unicorn bereavement"

Whatever was she looking for,
as she typed those words in the search box?
Was she grieving for her unicorn,
who was, perhaps, flattened by a semi-truck
while prancing merrily across the highway?

As she hit "ENTER," did her despairing heart swell with hope
that she would locate a support group, an online forum,
a five-step program to guide her through mythological loss!

Or could it be--

the unicorn himself, burdened with plodding grief
(a back-bowing sorrow too black for white magic)
turning-- as we all do--
to Wikipedia, to discover, at last,
the meaning?

[Delta40]

uhm an events page? I thought maybe a retirement village but backed up a bit since they're not dead yet.

I do like how you play with the idea of dead unicorn in contemporary measures. An overdose of Ecstasy perhaps?

Anyway, chirpy poem and I haven't go it in me to look for a deeper meaning right now. Either way, seems dreams on both sides have been dashed.

[hillwalker]

A glimpse at what other people enter into that 'Google' search box - and you playfully allowed your imagination to run riot. Deliciously intriguing.

H

[everyadventure]

@hill: right on, as always!

[PrinceMyshkin]

So of course, as you must have assumed somebody would, I did key in "unicorn bereavement" and there are indeed several entries though I was too lazy to read up in them. But what ISN'T to be found via Google? Flopsy-doodle? Nope, there were 63,400 results for that!

spinach-flavored ice-cream? 3,180,000 results......

As for your poem, a fine bit of whimsical wool-gathering! (672,000 results)

[everyadventure]

@Prince: looks like you're right... Unicorn Bereavement Center is an actual place that offers grief counseling... whoda thunkit?

[PrinceMyshkin]

But it occurs to me now that no one including myself has wondered openly about the relevance of the title. What if anything does the public nature of he computer have to do with the body of the poem?

[MystyrMystyry]

The relevance of a public computer lay in and can be found in another recent every poem entitled Ode to Mac


Did I get it? Did I get it? What do I win?

[everyadventure]

Ha, no, I'm happy to say I have repaired my computer-- all by myself! I had to invest in a Torx T6 driver, but I did it! Yes, feel free to applaud.

The title "Public Computer" is relevant because where else would you see such mysterious searches in the history tab? Nobody ever searches for such fascinating topics on MY computer! But you never know what you'll discover on the library's...

[blank|verse]

An enjoyably imaginative and contemporary poem, ea; it's funny where inspiration comes from, and you've made good use of it here.

For me, a little tightening wouldn't go amiss. I don't think you need 'who was, perhaps' in line 5; and you've got two 'at last's close together in the last few lines. But it's still an enjoyable poem.

[everyadventure]

@b|v: I hadn't even noticed the two "at lasts," thanks for pointing that out!

[MorpheusSandman]

I love this if only because it captures something about the specific age we live in. Surely if we browsed through people's search history we'd learns all kinds of weird and disturbing things. "Unicorn bereavement" is one of the stranger things I could imagine finding!

[drago]

Whatever was she looking for,
as she typed those words in the search box?
Was she grieving for her unicorn,
who was, perhaps, flattened by a semi-truck


I must admit that I completely fell in love with how this rhymes. Also, your poem was a perfect glass of cold water in what has otherwise been a world of heavy poetry for me lately. And for that, thank you. I loved it.

[Buh4Bee]

A fun little gem.

[deryk]

I think it's really great how you withhold what you do in the narrative and "key it in" as a fragment of a poetic image.

Reminded me of the story:

For sale baby shoes never worn.

Excellent use of limited perspective.

[Jerrybaldy]

I thought it was gonna be a googlewhack. I once spent a full day with one of my daughters trying to find one.
I have issues with counselling, so love your piece. Who woulda thunkit ? :D