Backing up!

Typing, tapping, click, click,
Just a moment, in a tick
all my story in my memory;
safe and sound, easily found;
but … there can be mistake
when quick fingers flick,
so … back it up! back it up!

Deletions, glitches, viruses, hacking:
frequent saving, frequent backing,
saves the panic, moaning, groaning:
on spare hard drive, or copy hard
or online storage, stick or card.

But I may need to remember
a password, or pin,
for retrieval, of all I’ve now put in;
but then – which number or word
did I choose?
so absurd – I’ve used such a lot,
but, which went with what?
did I lose
it – or jot
it down somewhere instead,
a list to assist, to back-up my head?
Find ways to trick
my brain to make a number stick,
the same for a name:
a personal pattern, or comic mnemonic.
But so many things, I don’t need to stash,
commit to memory, cerebral cache —
just copy and paste
from form to form or email, post –
it’s there to retrieve at my fingertip,
and cannot slip
away, unless …
so back it up, back it up!

Things my brain had forgotten,
can reappear once more
– from way before
unsought,
float back into thought.
And so, computer deletions
can sometimes arise
– welcome surprise?
from lurking down deep
where erased, asleep.