The email trail…

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Sue Vincent

I’m doing well, I’m nearly done,
An early night at last?
I’m almost sorted… then
The emails come in thick and fast.

Not one of them can be ignored,
None can be left for later…
And by the thirteenth missive
I’ve become an email hater.

For nowadays, my email
Will supply its own suggestions
With phrases I would never choose
In answer to your questions.

They’re peppered with superlatives
And exclamation marks…
Who does it think it’s writing for?
I’m truly in the dark.

I’m not an anti-literate
Monosyllabic teen,
Who will not write because my eyes
Are glued to iPhone screen.

I play with words, I like them,
They’re a long-term love affair.
Nor am I anti-social
Wishing friends would ‘go elsewhere’.

But must they be like buses,
Sending emails all at once?
Though, when it comes to answering,
Let’s face it, I’m the dunce…

Why do I feel obliged to be
At email’s beck and call?
Why can’t I wait to answer them?
Or not read them at all?

Technology has taught us
That would just be impolite…
And so we dash to answer,
Even when its late at night.

I once assumed technology
Was there to make life easy…
Instead we sit there typing
Till we’re half asleep and queasy.

I think with fondness of the days
When letters came by mail…
Replies were deemed acceptable
Delivered via snail.

You had the time then to compose
A well considered note,
Instead of dashing to reply
With phrases learned by rote.

The well-crafted epistle,
With its phrasing clean and polished,
A pleasure that came through the post
By email was demolished.

What treasures of posterity
Will our descendants find?
What faded sheaves of history
Will email leave behind?

Technology is quicker,
But the pen once did it better…
There’s something there to treasure
With a real, handwritten letter.

It’s midnight now, I’ve had enough,
I’m giving up the ghost;
I’m answering no more tonight
Unless they come by post.

About Sue Vincent

Sue Vincent was a Yorkshire born writer, esoteric teacher and a Director of The Silent Eye. She was immersed in the Mysteries all her life. Sue maintained a popular blog and is co-author of The Mystical Hexagram with Dr G.M.Vasey. Sue lived in Buckinghamshire, having been stranded there due to an accident with a blindfold, a pin and a map. She had a lasting love-affair with the landscape of Albion, the hidden country of the heart. Sue  passed into spirit at the end of March 2021.
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48 Responses to The email trail…

  1. Stuart France says:
    April 11, 2019 at 06:11

    Enjoyed the snail… 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Ennle Madresan says:
    April 11, 2019 at 07:55

    Sue, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Ritu says:
    April 11, 2019 at 08:21

    Right… Send us your address, so we can start writing…

    Like

    Reply
  4. Darlene says:
    April 11, 2019 at 08:44

    This is so true!! Well put my friend.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. jenanita01 says:
    April 11, 2019 at 09:24

    Electronic emails, on the whole, are not letters in the true meaning of the word. And there are far too many of them!

    Like

    Reply
  6. Kathy Lauren says:
    April 11, 2019 at 09:25

    You’ve expressed my feelings on email. I’m an excessive card sender. I write letters. I send missives on holidays. So, thank you for telling it like it is.

    Like

    Reply
  7. joylennick says:
    April 11, 2019 at 09:33

    Expressively worded. Spot on. I loved it, Sue. x

    Like

    Reply
  8. willowdot21 says:
    April 11, 2019 at 10:27

    So true we all suffer from the email blues and you have reminded all all so eloquently 💜💜

    Like

    Reply
  9. razarandomthoughts says:
    April 11, 2019 at 10:46

    Beautifully written

    Like

    Reply
  10. H.R.R. Gorman says:
    April 11, 2019 at 11:34

    Interesting poem – I personally prefer email, but perhaps that’s an effect of being a millennial!

    Like

    Reply
  11. Violet Lentz says:
    April 11, 2019 at 11:59

    I can only imagine how inundated you must be in emails.. Thus the reason I always feel it is only right to thank you for all you do.. Thanks again, Sue.

    Like

    Reply

  12. Pingback: Two Poems in One Post, in Honor of National Poetry Month | Ann Writes Inspiration

  14. pensitivity101 says:
    April 11, 2019 at 18:27

    Even now I love to get a handwritten letter or note from friends and respond in kind. Emails are nice and quick, especially if you’ve forgotten an important occasion or just want to let someone know they’re being thought about, but a letter? Lovely. I know how important they were to my Mum. I miss writing to her.

    Like

    Reply
  15. Marilyn Armstrong says:
    April 12, 2019 at 00:35

    If I never go anywhere or do anything, I MIGHT get to the end of my email by dinnertime — and then another 100 or more come in, at which point, I give up. Even I stayed up 24 hours a day, I’d never get through all of it, never read all the attached posts. And never have any time to write or post anything.

    It’s not that I’m not interested, but a lot of people I follow post 5 or 6 or even more times a day and I don’t have the energy to absorb that much material. I can’t bring myself to disengage from anyone’s blog, so while I try to read a reasonable amount on any given day, some days, I don’t have time to read much of anything and on other days, I don’t WANT to because I want to post my bird pictures on iNatural.org (if you don’t know what it is — plant, bird, animal, or insect — iNatural can help!) and find out why that bird looks so different than all the other birds that are supposed to be the same kind of bird. I think I spent about four hours yesterday getting confirming IDs on birds. It was really satisfying, but I wound up deleting most of my email!

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    • Sue Vincent says:
      April 12, 2019 at 07:10

      I sometimes have to get tough with the delete button too…once I’ve been through it to make sure I can. I still end up feeling guilty about it though, even when they are not from actual people!

      Like

      Reply
  16. Eliza Waters says:
    April 12, 2019 at 02:22

    You even rant well – how do you manage that? 😉

    Like

    Reply
  17. dgkaye says:
    April 13, 2019 at 01:16

    Fantabulous Sue! ❤

    Like

    Reply
  18. robbiesinspiration says:
    April 14, 2019 at 19:35

    A brilliant poem, Sue. I also get loads of emails on all my accounts.

    Like

    Reply
  19. 6sthinsoftcover says:
    May 18, 2019 at 05:06

    Great Read,Awesome Poem.,I think everyone gets lots of emails on
    accounts.

    Like

    Reply

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