An attempt to tease some life out of the self-centered ME generation by way of comparison with the renewed absurdity of now. Does not every group think that it is special? Skewering the past ("Lost Parents" from Who Are We Now by L. Ferlinghetti) with the present, and vice versa...
It takes a fast modem
to lead a double life
in these days of local internet access
when he has phat accounts on
three different continents
and downloads from each one
at least twice a day
a little simple arithmetic shows
what a workout he's engaged in
crossing and recrossing the net
from bedroom to office to cyber café
the processor hot
and the work area a jumble of books
for different operating systems
a mascot on the monitor
and a copy of Necronomicon or Generation X
under the desk
next to the college music CDs
issues of 2600 and the Hacker's Bible
crammed into a bookshelf
along with old rave fliers
and six packs of soda
emptiness attesting to the length
of his last LP-MUD'ding
And his e-mail
retrieved from a portable
between two scans or two gatherings
and the urgent message left
with an odd IP address to call Phreaker
about the stolen warez
he forgot to crack
and ftp to the board
for everyone to copy
While she dials in to a BBS
and will meet him later
between two other addresses
elite or newbie
including his girlfriend
who also Finger'ed twice
wanting to know if he's logged on
and what he's done
with their throw-away relationship
which
left to its own devices
in a random domain
disconnected and disappeared into cyberspace
in a desperate search
for lost people
in the flesh.
[ WSC Floorwalker ]
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