Listen my children, and you shall hear
Of the spoiler ride of DiVA Dear,
On the thirtieth of June, in Ninety-eight;
Hardly a one of us could wait
Who remembers that famous day and year.
She said to her friends, "If during the hour
Our couple does kiss in Salem tonight,
I’ll put a post aloft on the Message Tower
In the Heavenly Abode as a signal light –
One, if by her, and two, if by he;
And I at my computer screen will be,
Ready to spoil and spread the word
Through every Internet page and board,
For all the Angels to be up and stirred."
Then she said, "Good night!" and with muffled post,
Silently stayed at the Virginia coast;
Just as the sun came up the next day,
Where she impatiently waiting lay,
The Satellite signaled from afar
It’s telecast, which nothing could bar,
Across the sky like a shooting star,
And on her screen, it was magnified
And replaced her reflection with Days’ tide. *
Meanwhile, impatient to post and ride,
Re-booted and logged on, all done in stride
In her Virginia home, paced DiVA Dear.
She held the remote, anxious inside,
Now stared at the TV waiting to hear,
Then, impetuous, stamped the floor,
And turned and heightened her pace yet more;
But mostly she watched with eager search
As evil opponents fail to besmirch,
Our noble physician who’s won the race,
And finds his champion in a quiet place.
And lo! as she looks, much to her delight
Their triumph shared, they embrace so tight!
She springs to the keyboard, the mousepad she turns,
But lingers and gazes, til full in her sight
THE KISS takes place as their passion burns!
A hurry of fingers did the keyboard meet,
A shape in the dawn’s light, making her mark,
And beneath, from the keyboard, in typing, a spark
Struck out by fingers flying fearless and fleet:
That was all! And yet, through the morning’s daylight,
The fate of our couple was just within sight;
And the spark struck out by those fingers in flight,
Kindled the Net into flame with its heat.
You know the rest. In the posts you have read
How the Angel Regulars rejoiced and led
The supporters, giving thanks from all,
From behind each screen and firewall,
Chasing opposing fans away,
Across the Net emerged a new day;
Our couple has reached the turn of the road,
Their future together THE KISS doth bode. **
So through the Net rode DiVA Dear;
And so through the day went her words of spoil,
To our Angel Haven she was loyal –
A cry of elation and not despair,
A voice on the Internet, a post on the board,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the spoiling of her Post,
Through all our history, with the help of our Host,
In the hour of waiting and longing and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying fingers as she keyed,
And the spoiler message of DiVA Dear.
* Obscure meaning: a space of time
** Foretell
[Paul Revere’s Ride, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]