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The Disk Drive Once upon a midnight dreary, fingers cramped and vision bleary Soda cans and pizza boxes on the floor Longing for the warmth of bed sheets, still I sat there doing spreadsheets When finally at the bottom line, I took a floppy from the drawer Then invoked the SAVE command, waited for the disk to store Only this and nothing more Deep into the dark screen peering, long I sat there wondering, fearing Doubting, while the disk kept churning, turning yet to churn some more But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token “Save!” I cried,“ you cursèd mother! Save my data from before!” One thing did the phosphors answer, only this and nothing more Just “Abort, Retry, Ignore?” Was this some occult illusion, some maniacal intrusion? These were choices undesired, ones I’d never faced before Carefully I weighed the choices, as the disk made impish noises The cursor flashed, insistent, waiting, baiting me to type some more Clearly I must press a key, choosing one of only three Just “Abort, Retry, Ignore?” With fingers pale and eyes attending, slowly toward the keyboard bending Longing for a happy ending, hoping all would be restored Praying for some guarantee, timidly, I pressed a key But on the screen there still persisted, words appearing as before Ghastly grim they blinked and taunted, haunted, as my patience wore Just “Abort, Retry, Ignore?” I tried to catch the chips off guard and pressed again but twice as hard I pleaded with the damn machine, I begged and cried and then I swore Now in mighty desperation, trying any combination Still there came the incantation, just as senseless as before Cursor blinking, angry winking, blinking nonsense as before Just “Abort, Retry, Ignore?” There I sat, distraught, exhausted, by my own machine accosted Getting up I turned away and paced across the office floor And then I saw a dreadful sight, a lightning bolt cut through the night A gasp of horror overtook me, shook me to my very core The lightning zapped my hard-won data, lost and gone forevermore Just “Abort, Retry, Ignore?” And to this day we do not know the place to which lost numbers go What netherworld from which we could restore Beyond the reach of mortal souls, beyond the ether, to black holes But since there’s Windows, Lotus, C, and more You will one day be left to wander, lost on some Plutonian shore Just “Abort, Retry, Ignore?” All systems,
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