Ah.
So I read that Prince disliked the internet.
Was that true?
Did you dislike everything about it, Prince, or something specific?
Were you often
“Disconnected”?
Offline?
Outputs instead of inputs?
Wish I could know
Wish we could talk
I’m often offline myself
Don’t do many searches
Don’t troll the ‘net
Don’t peek into the neighbour’s backyard with aerial-photo Googly-eyes
Don’t sneak and spy about a house-for-sale I ain’t buyin’
Don’t try to find that story about some should-be-fired cabbie taping a mayor from Calg’ry
Don’t even stay up-to-date about the fire of McMurray
No
And I don’t read the tweets
Don’t even find out what the weather will be
(It will be what it is)
So
That’s how it happened, you see
That I didn’t find out, until today
– Quite unconnected, quite unaware
Of the gossip and the ‘news’ of the world –
I didn’t find out, until today, fifth of May, that
Prince passed away.
(Saw the magazine covers – grocery store)
So I went online
Did a search (StartPage)
Ah.
Yes, you have died.
You’re gone.
Wish you had stayed.
I would have invited you
To my birthday party
Someday
And you would have sung
For the millionth time
Little Red Corvette I Want to Be Your Lover 1999 Raspberry Beret Let’s Go Crazy U Got the Look
When Doves Cry
And so on.
But I see,
It won’t be quite like that
Because
April 21 –
Well,
You were busy that day
A day that didn’t go as you had planned either, hey?
My birthday
The day
I noted
With dismay
That the cake was cut
(Tampered with)
And no singing was done
Alas!
An interruption and violation
of honest tradition.
(Sad face.)
Meanwhile
You were dying
Some pills
(Tampered with)
You were dying
And your singing was
You died
And your singing was
Done
Alas!
An interruption and violation
of the worst kind!
(False face.)
Yet a story familiar
Hmm –
Yes, said the mystics
A story called
Julius and Brutus
Brutus and Julius
Ah
Jealous Brutus!
Hot-headed and wild
Dishonoured his friend
While acting all mild
And kind
(An old script
Lying here and lying there.)
For shame!
So now I guess
We have this odd little link
Prince
You and I
Plus Her Majesty, the Queen
(Though I note, you and she are royalty)
A date:
April 21.
Our date.
So anyway,
(And by the way, Sinead: shut up already; you err)
Just now
As a sort of a tribute
And a decades-later refresher of sorts
I went onto “YouTube”
(Google Inc too, I’ve been told)
And I saw you sing
Like you did
Back then
Nowadays the lyrics
Are quite easy to get
(Internet.)
Ha ha
(So you’re NOT singing, “I want to be the only one you cook for”)
And so I suppose
You and I shouldn’t actually complain
About the internet
Or
About Google
(Creepy – StartPage if you must; searches not saved)
And G-mail
(Creepy – I pay to use Hushmail myself; no ads and emails not scanned)
And GoogleMaps
(Creepy – only when desperate; is there an alternative?)
After all
I suppose
If it weren’t for the internet
Nobody could read this
At least
Not so fast
Not so easily
So I shouldn’t actually complain
But I do
At least
About Google
For you
And
With you
This time
Prince.
Hey Prince!
How about
We go after Google?
After all
Soon after posting
About an addictive sibling-squabbling segmented toy
I only half-jokingly said,
(Not thinking that I was doing much more than thinking aloud)
Don’t remember the context
“Remember: Google is bad.”
And then
Silence
And then
I groaned
Oh man
That’s not my next post
Is it
Lord?
I had thought that Plastic Grid Toy was as big as they get
(I had forgotten about that irritant of mine
An old ‘friend’ with the googly eyes)
I had gotten so entirely used to my personal and historic dislike
(No secret to those who know me)
of the profitable omnipresent faceless Corporation called
that I had forgotten
that I was one of the silly ones
who so regularly protested
this silent Big Brother
this Orwellian monster
this out-of-control unavoidable inextinguishable
Orange and yellow flame
that covers the earth
yet wants more
and more
and more
every day.
Ah
Maybe we’re near the end
Of its total control
Maybe,
Orange and yellow flame,
Consuming all in your way,
Maybe it’s time.
I suppose we’ll see.
Against Google, GoogleAds and all things related
I call upon a
Man
with, arguably, no name
Who inspired
Purple Rain.
Ah
Let it rain!
Purple Rain
Extinguish what you dislike
About the internet!
What would you select,
Prince?
Let me guess –
Can the world imagine
a world without Prince?
Can the world imagine
a world without Google?
Maybe
Maybe Prince could
Imagine a world without Google Ads Inc.
He wasn’t granted such a world then
But he’s got such a world now.
Dear Prince,
You can’t come to my party
You can’t eat the cake
Or have it
But it’s okay
Because you beat me to heaven,
Prince
And that’s even better
Than carrot cake
From the very best place