LO
In nineteen sixty-nine
Two computers were linked up.
One sent a message
To the other one.
It only managed, ‘L’… ‘O’…
(LOG-IN’s first letters).
But, lo and behold,
The Internet had started
(Then each machine crashed).
That year man logged on
To the Moon landing and to Manson;
To space travel and to mass murder.
Soon the net would produce
A trillion brainstorms – some high
And some low minded.
Thus man’s interbrain
Would get a new frontal lobe,
Though it’s still confused
By an analog choice:
Whether to make war or peace
With just one keystroke.
Heathcote Williams