The Christmas Computer

One winter morning

I was asked by my dad,
"What do you want for Christmas,
Young Thad?"

My answer was quick:

"I want a computer.
Not just any computer.
No, I want a root-tooter!
I want a ZBN 23,
No ripoffs. No scrapple.
No cheap imitations,
No lemons. No apples.

"I want a fast computer;

One so fast and flit
Four mathematicians, in 400 years
Couldn't do as much as it.

"I'll need an IGA graphics card;

Everyone knows graphics means games.
An IGA has 2 billion colors
Most of which don't even have names.

"Of course I'll need a modem--

The biggest, baudest modem around--
So I can call all the local computers
And make that BEEP-whirr sort of sound.
Oh! The boards I can call up!
Oh, the computers I can walk through!
I think you need another phone line
So you get a chance to talk too.

"Wait a minute! I forgot!

I'll need software too!
Hardware without software,
It just wouldn't do!
I'll need a word processor, for processing words.
 I'll need a third processor, for processing thirds.
I'll need a spreadsheet. I'll need a tax program.
I'll need Super Paint. I'll need VAX-o'gram.
I'll want games in which you get to drop blocks.
I'll want games where you get to shoot spaceships in socks.

"And I'll need a big hard drive to fit all my programs,

A very big hard drive. With hundreds of megograms.

"Oh yes! And a printer!

A Laserjet printer--
A 668 color Laserjet printer!
So I can print pretty pictures
In all colors through
Indigo-indigo-purplish-blue.

"And a full page scanner

So my computer can read.
And that's all the computer
That I'll ever need!

"Except...
What of a joystick?
How can I live
Without a big joystick?
I can't play all my games on the keyboard,
Why it wouldn't be right!
You wouldn't want all of my friends to think that you're tight!

"So a joystick. And mouse.

And a speech synthesizer.
And so I can talk back:
A speech recognizer.

"Oh, how my friends will like my machine!

When they see it they're sure to turn green!
They'll come over for hours to play all my games,
And see all my colors that don't even have names.

"But there's only one computer

And there's lots of us.
 How can we all play
And not make a fuss?
I'll need terminals
That will connect us all through
To the main computer
(I'll need cables too).

"Now the ZBN 23

Has RAM interriminable.
But not quite enough RAM
To keep track of ten terminals.
I'll need a step up--
A supercomputer.

"A ZBN Bloober-Supercomputer!

And a staff of technicians
To make sure it keeps working.
And a staff of debuggers
For any bugs that start lurking.

"An account on the Hinternet

So everyone on the planet
Can call my computer
(Please, don't ask me to can it).

"There's just one more thing:

A Multi-User Confuser!
It's a kind of a game
That can be played by dozens of losers.

"So that's what I want.

I'm not asking much.
Why, Brad down the street
Has a computer that that wouldn't touch!
 The Question
I sit here now
And I look back
At my life across the years
I recall the joys
And all the pains
The laughter and the tears

The mistakes I’ve made

The lessons learned
The times that I’ve been wrong
As well as all
The happy times
That life did bring along

Im amazed
That Im alive
I think I should be dead
From all the things
That’s happened here
Both to my heart and head

So now I sit
And try to think
Just what life means to me
Both what life is
And what I hope
The future years will be

Life is such
A confusing thing
As you sow, so shall you reap
You must pay a price
For what you learn
And the answers don’t come cheap

And we’ve all had dreams

That slowly died
As the hourglass passed its sands
And it’s true that life
Is what happens while
You’re making other plans

For the dreams do not

Always come true
That rarely is the case
And as soon as you
Get to your feet
You fall back on your face

Then there are those

Who’ll gladly take
Your dreams and hopes from you
Then leave you standing
As an empty shell
Not knowing what to do

They’ll take your heart

Then take your soul
They’ll promise to be around
Then at first sign
Of troubled times
They’ll drop them to the ground

Then as you pick

The pieces up
From all over the place
The one who said
They’ll always care
Laughs right in your face

And as you stand

With teary eyes
And a sad and broken heart
You can only watch
The one you loved
As they turn and they depart
 For there is no way
To keep them close
Or do what they will not do
Just as you can’t
Will a rose to bloom
You can’t make them love you

So you let them go

Even though it hurts
You must let them go away
For it’s to no avail
If you’re not wanted
To try to make love stay

And then begins

The empty nights
And the long and hollow days
But the road back to
A healthy heart
Can take so many ways

It can take you down

So many paths
With only one as the right trail
And the times you’ve made
A wrong turn or two
Are impossible to tell

But with the help

Of Special Ones
And from God above
You reclaim yourself
As you reclaim
The capacity to love

Yet still you fear

To love again
To give freely from the heart
‘Cause you’re so afraid
 One day they’ll leave
So you hesitate to start

But deep inside

You know that
To give it any less
Would only be
An invitation
To make good love a mess

So here Im
My Sweet Angel
I stand before you now
Offering to you
All that I am
I hope it’s enough somehow

‘Cause even though

I sometimes fear
I know you do not lie
And I entrust to you
My heart each time
That I look into your eyes

Please know my love

That every time
I touch your auburn hair
And look into
Those smiling eyes
I see my place in there

And when I draw you

Close to me
As your breath mixes with mine
I taste your lips
And I know
I could stand by you through time
 Then all at once
From deep inside
I feel things I’ve never felt
And Im so glad
I’ve played the cards
That life so cruelly dealt

For without them

I would not be
The man that Im now
And to love someone
So totally
I just would not know how

And if we’d met

Before all of that
Before life made us search our heart
The precious love
That we have found
You or I would tear apart

But perhaps now

That we both know
Of the pain that love can give
We’ll play no games
With the other’s heart
Just share the life we live

I once said I
Would live my life
In fear again to care
For if Im hurt
Like that again
My soul would disappear

But I now say

That’s a chance I’ll take
Just to be with you
‘Cause nothing ventured
 Nothing lost
Means nothing is gained too

Despite the fears

Im not one
To live my life alone
I’ve always wanted
That Special One
And a kind and gentle home

And it’s not a question

Of being afraid
To have no one by my side
It’s just that it’s
Not who I am
And from it I will not hide

And you have a Son

From your own past
I accept him as my own
I hope he will
Accept me as Dad
So we’ll have a happy home

For we both have

Our troubled pasts
That we must both forgive
And learn to accept
If side by side
We ever hope to live

I’ll never be
A wealthy man
I knew it years ago
I can’t offer you
An easy life
As through the years we go
 And Im not perfect
I have my faults
I don’t ride a gallant steed
Im not a knight
In shining armor
Just a human being with needs

But I’ll give to you

A gentle hand
And two arms to hold you tight
And I’ll try my best
To let you know
I love you day and night

To promise more
Would not be right
Just promises in vain
We’ve had enough
Of them broken
We know that cutting pain

So with a lump
Stuck in my throat
With nervous, shaky hands
I offer you all
The love I have
From a bruised, big hearted man

If you can live

With all I am
With all the good and bad
Then I can live
With yours My Love
Through the happy and the sad

I’ve no idea
Where we would live
And how I do not know
But I have faith
 The Lord shall provide
As through the years we go

Now I ask you

To stand by me
As the years do pass us by
And know that I
Do love you so
And that I do not lie

For when I say

‘Till death do us part”
I pray that it shall be
I know not what else
To say except…
Cindy, will you marry me?
 POEMS

Submitted by:
Submitted to:
Group 2 Mrs. Ana
Jemima Breis
II-Bichat
Members:
 Africano, Raphael
 Becina Aaron Paul
 Perez, Carl Danielle
 Aliazas, Clarrene Faith
 Balatero, Mikaela Louise
 Capillan, Alexandra
 Espinosa, Marie Charlene
 Mediavillo, Jazelle
 Urgena, Charrylaine
 Villanueva, Niña Dolores