From: utzoo!watmath!dmmartindale
Newsgroups: net.poems
Title: The Last Bug
Article-I.D.: watmath.3468
Posted: Tue Sep 14 00:56:16 1982
Received: Tue Sep 14 01:09:10 1982

                     _T_h_e _L_a_s_t _B_u_g


                "But what does it matter?"
                They said with a shrug.
                "The customer's happy.
                What's one little bug?"

                But he was determined.
                The others went home.
                He spread out the program
                Deserted....alone.

                The cleaning man came.
                The whole room was cluttered
                With punch cards, core dumps,
                "I'm close," he muttered.

                His mumbling grew louder,
                "Simple deduction!
                I've got it! It's right!
                Just change one instruction!"

                It still wasn't right,
                As year followed year,
                And strangers would query,
                "Is that nut still here?"

                He died at his console
                Of hunger and thirst.
                They buried him next day
                (Face down - nine edge first.)

                The last bug in sight,
                One small ant passing by,
                Saluted his tombstone
                And whispered, "Nice try."



I copied the above from a bulletin board at Brock University about
ten years ago.  I suspect it was written somewhere else but I don't
have any idea by whom or where, so I can't give the author proper credit.
(How many of you remember what "face down - nine edge first" refers to?)