Lacking anything particularly interesting to talk about today, I present a villanelle I wrote way back in January of 2002; it was the result of an at-work discussion of structured poetry (haiku, sonnets and villanelles in particular).
I Am Such a PC Geek
I am such a PC geek
There’s no bigger geek than me 1This is just as big a lie today as it was in 2002, but I allowed myself some creative leeway in terms of the magnitude of my geekery.
Quite fluent in computer speak
All my conversations reek
of SCSI, RAID and IDE 2Pronounced “scuzzy, raid and eye-dee-ee”, of course.
I am such a PC geek
Let me take a little peek
at your root directory
(quite fluent in computer speak)
I can plug that mem’ry 3Originally “memory”, but as I was typing it out today I realized I could improve the meter by borrowing a tricky from heav’nly hymns. leak
and degauss your CRT 4This one (along with SCSI) makes me realize how dated the poem is. Flatscreen LCD monitors have come into prevalence over cathode ray tubes (and SCSI seems to have largely fallen by the wayside). … Continue reading
I am such a PC geek
Install, configure, patch and tweak
and transfer files by FTP 5I’m not especially fond of this line because the previous line ends with “and tweak” and this one begins with “and”. It could stand a bit of tweaking (har!), but I … Continue reading
(quite fluent in computer speak)
If you can’t find the any key
don’t bother trying to talk to me
I am such a PC geek
quite fluent in computer speak
| ↑1 | This is just as big a lie today as it was in 2002, but I allowed myself some creative leeway in terms of the magnitude of my geekery. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Pronounced “scuzzy, raid and eye-dee-ee”, of course. |
| ↑3 | Originally “memory”, but as I was typing it out today I realized I could improve the meter by borrowing a tricky from heav’nly hymns. |
| ↑4 | This one (along with SCSI) makes me realize how dated the poem is. Flatscreen LCD monitors have come into prevalence over cathode ray tubes (and SCSI seems to have largely fallen by the wayside). Perhaps the entire poem should be rewritten every five years or so to integrate new acronyms and initialisms. Even better, perhaps I should make it a series of poems, with this version being 1.1 and pentennial (which should mean “five years”, even if it doesn’t) rewrites incrementing the version number. |
| ↑5 | I’m not especially fond of this line because the previous line ends with “and tweak” and this one begins with “and”. It could stand a bit of tweaking (har!), but I don’t want to lose the “FTP”. |