Okay, so 99% of the people who come to this blog are only going to be able to read the English version, and have probably never heard of Perl Poetry. But... suffice it to say, I'm a software developer and one of the programming languages I know is Perl. People actually write poetry in Perl and it is considered to be an exceedingly difficult thing to do. It seemed like a fitting tribute ina whimsical sort of way. My poet friends are all writing poetry of surpassing beauty and heart-wringing emotion... but this morning, I was writing code. My friend Yemi, who a most incredible writer and poet, and a fine person said this. "Event follows event with the inevitability (in hindsight) of a program. What better metaphor?"
A Program for 9/11
warn ("Al Queda Determined to Strike US");
exec(0);
open(MYPETGOAT, "Story-Book") or die "11, 175, 93, 77"
while (<MYPETGOAT>){ exec(0);}
for (i=1; i==2752; i++) { if (!!ur==0) {kill; kill; kill;}}
$red = $white = $blue = "gray";
$together = $black + $white + $republican + $democrat + $young + $old;
goto (Afganistan);
if (!m/Osama Bin Laden/) { delete("Iraq"); }
split (/sectarian lines/, "$Iraq" . "$US");
if (!m/insurgency/) { our(soldiers) = $iraqicivilians = $civilliberties = 0)
exec(0);
exit("fail");
#it reads like this:
#
#Warning: Al Queda Determined to Strike US
#The President does nothing.
#Open My Pet Goat while death approaches for flights 11, 175, 93, and 77.
#While reading My Pet Goat, the President does nothing.
#And 2752 people die.
#And the red, white and blue turns gray.
#But all of us become one.
#
#We go to Afghanistan,
#but when we cant find Osama Bin Laden
#we attack Iraq.
#And we fall apart--the US and Iraq--splitting along sectarian lines
#while the insurgency rages,
#our soldiers die
#iraqi civilians die
#we give up our civil liberties
#The President does nothing.
#To exit is to fail
