Didn't Even Switch Them On
Fifteen or twenty, who can tell?
Some were just boards,
some cases as well.
Four house moves, a decade or more,
Still stacked up behind another door.
Summer heat and winter cold,
And still I couldn't let them go.
If they still worked,
I'd let them stay.
If they broke, I'd fix them anyway.
One little test, one Saturday— And another ten years slip away!
I didn't even switch them on!
No little beep, no startup song.
They might have worked,
they might have died,
For all those years,
I'd walked right by.
I kept the stories,
let the boxes go— And if they worked,
I'll never know! I didn't even switch them on,
And still those old days carry on!
Eight hundred megahertz of pride,
That Fujitsu with the curving side.
The first PC I bought myself,
Now looking tired upon a shelf.
The case was grimy,
dull and gray, But I could still recall that day.
"Just one more boot?"
Oh, what a trap!
I'd spend a day
to bring Windows back.
An IRQ,
a driver fight, There goes another Saturday night!
I didn't even switch them on!
No little beep, no startup song.
They might have worked,
they might have died,
For all those years,
I'd walked right by.
I kept the stories,
let the boxes go— And if they worked,
I'll never know! I didn't even switch them on,
And still those old days carry on!
A three-eight-six rode home with me,
From college on the bus,
for free.
I got it running,
watched it glow, Then left it sleeping years ago.
The Toshiba stays, some others run,
I didn't have to save each one.
And one box full of floppy disks: The "Save" icon you hold
like this!
Then one day on a glowing screen,
A stranger's tower, gray and clean.
That same soft curve,
that same old face,
Though mine had long since left its place.
"Oh, the good old boy!"
I had to grin—
A brand-new memory
sneaking in.
I didn't even switch them on!
And still the stories carry on.
No spinning fans, no loading screen,
But I know what they meant to me.
I let the towers go,
the stories stayed, And there's a new one being made!
I didn't even switch them on—
And somehow here's another song!
They might still work.
I wouldn't know. I let the boxes go.