Well, for an exposition of this poem (well, at least some of it) see below. First, . . . 
@my = @our =(company, "KBW");
{integrity, family, money, diligence};
study banks;
write "research";
join buyers & sellers, investors & entrepreneurs;

wait;
listen(airplanes, explosions);
alarm delayed;

warn friends if possible;
flock quickly, to-the-exits;
(running=>down=>the=>stairs);

while (<thinking>, <talking>) {40% die};
burned and crushed and smashed and smothered;
REBUILD:  connect servers, clients;
          link databases, routers;
          sleep nervously for months;
do work until exhausted;

TASK:  read emails, $messages, archives;
for (@ll-the-dead){
  "Are you okay?";
  "Write back to me!";
  "I miss you, daddy";
  "How could you let them DIE?!";
  for(business){send on, forward, respond} if (appropriate){}
  else{delete $message{sadly}}
}


study banks;
write "research";
join buyers & sellers, investors & entrepreneurs;

###################################################################;


$_ = $my[1];$m = $s = ord(chop);
$k = chr(ord(chop $our[1]) - (($x = chop $s) + chop $s));print ''.
(reverse $k.chr($m - $x).chr((ord(chop))-1).chr((ord(chop))-1));

[download]
I work for a brokerage which was located on the 88th and 89th floors of Tower 2, and was at my desk when the plane hit the first building. This poem is a pitifully bad recounting of that experience (but happens to be my first perl poem).

I set myself some guidelines before writing it. I wanted it to parse (which it does under 5.8) and produce output (which it also does). I also wanted to give a taste of what it was like -- the task of reading emails sent to people who didn't survive was a difficult one which everyone in IT did. KBW was a very close company; I knew pretty much everyone who did not survive, and was close to many.

There are also subsequent facts hinted at in this poem which I am not free to explain right now.

KBW itself is a vibrant, strong company. I am particularly proud of the way deceased employees were treated -- the families received the employees' salaries through the end of the year, including bonuses (contrast this to Cantor Fitzgerald, which docked pay for not showing up to work).

In reply to KBW::ToT by SamCG

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