LITTLE BILLY THOMAS: Will He Understand?

What you put out there will be seen by everyone. Can you live with that?

In 2035, ten year old Billy Thomas will do an internet essay about his mom.
He will be beaming with pride thinking about how well it will be done.
He will activate his internet desk and search for her old images online.
Billy like all of his classmates will see the images from our current time.

He will see photos of his grandparents. He will laugh at his family's odd clothes.
Billy will show his little friends how beautiful his mother was at 14 years old.
He will scroll through his mother's yearbooks and find photos of when he was born.
Billy will gasp in utter horror when he sees old Facebook photos of her with nothing on.
He will be embarrassed as he sees booty shaking videos lifted from her old FB page.
He will turn off his desk when he reads her old posts of "HORNY and UNAFRAID!"
Billy like a lot of his fellow students will go and ask his teacher for a lesson pass.
They will not want to do the project because of their mothers showing their naked a*s!

I don't write this to be sexist or blame only our women for this crud.
No, the truth is we are all to blame for the proliferation of this internet sludge.
I hope you think about this poem before posting a nude picture of you and your man.
I want you to think about your future Billy Thomas: "Will he understand?
The world is connected, and your actions will one day bring back regrettable returns.
One day your children will surf the information highways and see images you can't burn!

© 2014 Eddie Phillips

Reviews

[Emrick]

This is a very unique poem. Not many of us look into the future. We are entwined between the past and the present. Billy will understand. In fact, he won't find his parents nude pics as strange or offensive. I doubt if people are going to be ashamed of their past or their kids be ashamed of what there parents did. Shame seems to be a rare thing in humans nowadays. And every sunrise it gets more rare. Maybe there won't be a word for shame in the future.

[Malcolmveli]

I like this poem. It reads almost like a "non-fictional sci-fi ." Its a look into the future and provides a commentary on a problem that is being created today. I also have a strong appreciation for the rhyme scheme and the humor which compliments the message.

[Tate Morgan]

Bravo Few understand how important the way we are perceived truly is. However it is the rare one that can look down the road and placing one foot in front of the other leave a path for his descendants

[Rita L. Sev]

If you only knew how often I have tried to get this very message across to my middle school students, Eddie! So true, the footprint we leave in cyberspace is indelible, our reputation forever... Well told, my friend