Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

"Fortran cards"? I've heard of those! Dude, you are so old-school...

Yeah, I know--a.k.a. "scrap paper." AOL CDs make good drink coasters too.

this post struck me as haiku-ish, so i adapted it into a haiku-ish form (well aware it's not 5-7-5):

Signed the papers on the next book.
Sent them back FedEx.
Fortran cards tossed over the floor.

Oh, come on Sean--you can do better...

Next book, contract delivered,
signed, returned FedEx.
Now, real work begins...

Matthew, while I welcome the competition, i do not concede that yours was the better effort. you got the meter closer, but you lost that Haiku-ish pseudo-nature image of the Fortran cards on the floor ;-)

Next book, papers signed
sent back Federal Express
Fortran cards, now strewn

Ah, yes Sean--well played. I did sacrifice the explicit seasonal aspect of most traditional (and great) haiku in favor of the blunt image of a writer at work. Your imagery of the Fortran cards on the floor certainly evokes the autumnal setting properly and in a more subtle manner, while also hinting at the flurry of work going on.

Hm...how about this? Kind of both seasonal and hopeful...

Fortran cards awry,
Contract signed, returned FedEx.
Next book on the way...

Prayers for Tom's brother-in-law, and all of the family...

very nice, Lex and Matthew.

maybe i should stage a TPMB poetry contest ;-)

Ha! That would be fun, Sean! I can do decent haiku, but consistent rhymes would be tougher. You would need categories for different types of poetry. What rhymes with Leviathan?

W (say "Dub-ya")
Said "Is our children learning?"
How to answer that?

Matthew: very nice! might be time to give up the day job ;-)

Nah--too busy trying to get the world a decent drink of water...

How about a (clean) limerick?

There once was a man, wrote some books,
On how military, economy, and policy cooks.
"Shrink the Gap with our Leviathan,
Clear the way for the SysAdmin,
Core connections are your most-needed hooks."