The premise can’t be overstated—
Pulp and print are antiquated,
Relics of a bygone age,
But metadata’s all the rage.

The nineteen nineties fade and die,
And none too quickly. Books, goodbye!
Your presence leaves us in a fix,
For hard disk drives and dust don’t mix.

This century, in one big burst,
We’ll force into the twenty-first.
Come one! Come all! We will amaze
You with our ultra-modern ways!

We must progress—we cannot wait:
Let terminals proliferate
Till CRTs singe every face
In every single study space!

Away with those who love to lounge
About, or sleep, or simply scrounge
For paperbacks: it isn’t mete!
Such practices are obsolete!

We’re done with books! We’re done with print!
We’re wired! Don’t you take our hint?
We’re ultra-modern now, throughout—
Unless, of course, the power’s out.