Stop

There's a species that's dying that we never mention
And I think that it's time we gave it attention.
These past few years its numbers have dropped
And it seems its extinction cannot be stopped,
Literally speaking, for what I address
Is the dwindling number of STOP buttons to press.
That simple square, that precious stop
Is surplus to requirements and is for the chop.

I noticed it first with those MP3s,
Then video streaming saw the spread of the disease,
Somehow, somewhere behind-the-scenes,
Stop buttons are being removed from our screens
And our remotes, and for what cause?
What are we left with? I'll tell you what: Pause.
Well I say wrong! and I say no!
STOP should stay, STOP should not go.
It's true that might mean fewer buttons to press,
But to me that fewer feels a lot more like less.
To be left with no stop just a measly pause
Makes me feel empty for, whatever it's flaws,
A stop is full and a stop is complete.
It means: no more of this dad's army repeat!
I have other things I really must do.
I'm spent I'm done, I'm quite through with you.
A stop says I'm finished, I'm done for the day
I'm not coming back, nohow and no way.
What Pause has is claws, it wants you right back
It says: 'it's okay, go away. I'll cut you some slack.
Don't worry my friend no bridges are burned,
I'll be right here ready for when you return.'
Fantastic! Convenient! Quite right! you might say,
But Pause gets in your head and won't let you away.
Just as you break from Miss Taylor Swift
Your mind will turn over and 'fore long you drift
Back to the machine or the screen and press play.
Pause has you now, there's no getting away.
The future is gloomy my friends, the future is grim,
Stopping this rot looks increasingly slim.
So take just a moment, pause for thought
Please think of the joy your stop buttons brought.
And heed these final words that I say:
Stop pausing right now, start stopping today.

(By the way, as you might well expect,
I don't give a monkeys about the loss of Eject.)