Ode to Shirley
Beth Huelsenbeck

My stout and sturdy MacBook Pro,
Thou hast left me adrift in a river of woe.
On these waters, where once we labored and laughed,
My burdened iPhone is my only life raft.

​

For despite the IT man’s ministrations so deft,
Of a logic board, thou art bereft.
Indeed, there’s no logic to thy fatal necrosis,
And thy loss fills my mind with illogic psychosis.

​

From essays on Dante to Dragon Age lore,
To Star Trek, to Sims, to poetry quite poor,
Thou hast carried me, fearless, on this strange college journey;
In thy absence I’m but a cripple on a Stone Age gurney.

​

All these years I have taken thee for granted
When I should have been grateful, bewitched and enchanted.
Beloved laptop, thou who hast left me too early:
With mournful respect, I now dub thee Shirley.

 

O Shirley, thou art lovely, with thy space grey exterior;
How can I proceed with a laptop inferior?
To the Apple Store I suppose I now must travel,
But my heartstrings your memory will forever unravel.