Games for the Computer Children

Here’s another poem I found from my poetry class. Enjoy.

Games for the Computer Children

1. First find an ignorant user.
   Crash. Stop working for a month.
   Then come suddenly back to life.
   Learn how computer myths are spread.
2. Watch a user install anti-virus software.
   Let them feel safe all winter.
   Then erase all of their files.
   Learn how software companies survive.
3. Learn the Internet dance. Follow the
   Hyperlinks. Glut your eye on garish
   Pages. Follow the links back home.
   Art is sweeter than honey.
4. Take a virus. Let it into your system.
   Whatever program tries to run,
   Crash it. You are learning what
   Viruses are for.
5. Cut off the network: ISP strike.
   Try 250 free hours: junior finds daddy’s
   Credit card. Max it out.
   The “free hours” were only bait.
6. Plug your mouse into the box.
   Set a password on the screen.
   When a stranger tries to log in,
   Teach him the computer always wins.
7. When you are big, hack the mainframe.
   Win, and you feast on information.
   Loose, and you sleep in a prison
   All winter long, next to “Bubba.”
8. When you have learned all the games
   Lay your fingers on the keys.
   Knowledge, quoth the computer, is power.
   “Press any key to continue…”