The Lever Arch File
A lever arch file
is a beautiful thing,
made of cardboard
and shiny metal,
designed to hold papers in place
with a lever and a spring.
You can have an A-Z index
or a dating system,
nothing left to chance,
records retrieved, at a glance.
There is something so safe and satisfying
about the lever arch file
that now sits in a pile
in landfill
or burnt on a bonfire
where the smoke goes up
into the clouds.
Now we have digital data,
tags and the like,
are archives really a thing of the past?
Searches draw blanks,
seem random at best
will our technological filing systems
really stand the test,
like the lever arch file did,
once upon a time?
© Maggie ‘Glad the Poet’ Baker 22 January 2021
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