(With apologies to Louis MacNeice)
I am but a child in an IT world; O help me
not to grow up worshipping false gods.
I am but a child, protect me
from falling prey to grey men
peddling pixels and megabytes; exhort me
not to waste the precious hours of youth
texting inanities to the inane.
I am but a child, keep me
from addiction, let me not succumb
to a craving for updates; encourage me
to speak and sing to close companions,
and not tweet and twitter into a void.
I am but a child, restrain me
from being enticed into chatrooms; persuade me
to hear the world around me, deliver me
from a surfeit of downloads.
I am but a child, save me
from solecisms, never let me
take a laptop to the beach, forbid me
ever to answer a mobile
during intercourse.
I am but a child, O help me
to live in the real world, steer me
away from fantasy, bar me
from the make-believe of video games.
Let not the dehumanisers beat me.
Otherwise delete me.