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When the internet disappeared

At first, I thought 

for a thrilling instant that 

poets had taken over Twitter


 as all

the emo

jis bec

ame two

col umn

sof text


and every other tweet

became a concrete poem


(though I soon realised

that if the poets had taken over Twitter

it would only be to publicise their work)


so what, then?


but soon, the whispers 

started sweeping across the screen

a ransom attack

hackers, terrorists

the Russians

the Chinese

the mob

aliens


Governments to topple

order on the brink

chaos beckoning


and for a few moments

the world became less certain


the truth is always

more prosaic, of course

a pulled cord

a spilled coffee

"A service configuration that triggered disruptions"

they said, and we nodded wisely


and as everything flickered back into being

the world became real again

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