http://qs1969.pair.com?node_id=43801

I write this poem in English;
Not Perl.
I don't have time to translate it.
It doesn't rhyme or have form.
I don't have time to structure it.

I generally hate poets and artistes;
of the non-geek kind.
Wailing away with their pathetic little drivel;
That only they can understand.
What good are they?

Nonetheless I now steal their "form"
To talk about Perl (and the site).
So I can post it here without fear.
It's quick and easy to type.
That's all I can do now.

I want to post here and transcend the ranks.
Rise higher like an angel of technology.
With wings formed by the support of the bretheren.
But no.
I'm resigned to Perl Hell.

Every post is a stuggle.
My jobs demand so much of me.
The (l)users swarm over my body like army ants.
Each with problems only I can solve.
One couldn't find the light switch and complained of darkness!

My other job, an equal joke!
I code HTML for those who cannot speak it.
They want flash when animated GIFs would do.
They want colors beyond the safety of the known 256.
They are a marketing department.

I weep.

In the darkness of Perl Hell,
I see the high light of the monastary.
I drag my iron clad body away from the shackles.
That keep me at the sulfurous wall.
I climb the cliff that the holy gates rest on.

I draw forth my beloved camel book.
Read through the functions and forms.
I do not code with modules.
I sin perpetually in reinventing the wheel.
But now I use strict and code with -w.

I've got no time to scan CPAN.
No time for reading perl news.
No time to code my projects.
No time to do anything I want.
Especially post here.

And yet, I've seen the demon's own face.
I know it well.
Laziness is it's name, Sloth.
One of the seven deadly sins.
Or three virtues.

When I do have time, it keeps me chained just as firmly.

Where is the key?
How can I break free from work and also the demon?
What is the answer?
Madness? Death?
Must I become a reclusive woodsman to truly understand the Tao of Perl?

I must live one day at a time.
Post from one day to the next.
Hide underground, work on the anti-tan.
I must become geek.
That must be my inner essence.

Perhaps then, I can attain immortality.

~W