Once upon a midnight dreary
As I was typing tired and bleary
Pondering a program that
I'd started on at four.

Cursing my procrastination
Bothered by a game's temptation
Wondering why I hadn't started
On this program long before

Thought I heard a distant rumbling
Passed it off as my cats tumbling
Tumbling as if they were wrestling
Upon the kitchen floor.

Upset then by the distraction
Put the keyboard back in action
Promising that future sounds
I would but just ignore.

On the keyboard I was tapping
Suddenly there came a zapping
Sound that shook the house
And sent me reeling to the floor.

Laid there thinking "What's the matter"
Then it was I heard the clatter
Faint enough I quickly rose up
Trying to hear more.

'Twas nothing but a quiet clicking
A sinister incessant ticking
Coming from my poor computer
And out the disc drive door.

Icy chills ran up my back
For now I knew that demon crack
Had been a bolt of lightning
That I'd chosen to ignore.

I rushed to try to save my stuff
But wasn't nearly fast enough.
That flash had caused a meltdown
Deep within the 'puter's core.

I stood there unprepared to speak
An open-mouthed computer geek
Trying to remember the
Command that would restore.

Alas my efforts were in vain
The message it returned was plain
My data keyed so long and hard
Would be seen NEVERMORE!

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