๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐๐ฑ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ
๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด
(๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐ช. ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐)
I want to send this Valentine
To you, my engineer,
in a user-friendly language
so my feelings are quite clear.
You found me just as if I were
an operating system,
With complex codes from Microsoft So many, you can't list 'em.
You studied me, before we met, examined my directories
for preferences in music,
wine, and sexual expectories.
โข
We met; you scanned me carefully, And whispered your conclusion: My blue eyes, at .1 dot pitch,
Foretold fine resolution.
You asked if I were intimate
with user protocol,
and whether, in the end, I would allow you to install
a network rich with memory
completely uninhibited,
with gigabytes of software
and sole access to you limited.
You held my hand, and absently would double click my knuckle The closer it would get to your Snapped shirt and your belt buckle.
You offered me your spreadsheet and you taught me how to use it. You installed it in my laptop
Where I'd likely not abuse it.
You swore you'd read my hypertext whenever it appeared,
You threw away password protect. Old messages were cleared.
My poems, the programs that I wrote, You read, though I'm no Plath, as if you'd find my heart in their AUTOEXEC.BAT. path.
Although your history with kids Was brief, you were my icon,
For it was you who got the air
For tires to ride the bike on.
Now, when ants are in the bathroom, and the kids want pre-dawn hugs, I look to you for your advice.
You're good at fixing bugs.
And when we go out in the car, My door, you activate.
You launch my chair at dinner, Make eye contact while we wait.
You offer me the MENU
And absorb the big expenses,
And whenever I've forgotten mine, You offer me your lenses.
You format me for breakfasts
and you renovate my chassis
With romantic trips to mountain springs. You treat my dog like Lassie.
You help me optimize my house, You help define the grey scale. You make electric things turn on, And make fun of my junk mail.
You bring wood to the fireplace, You help me to reboot.
You put up with user group's
behavior that's not cute.
But most of all, you fill my head with megabytes of laughter,
and ongoing connections
that are sweet forever after.
I find you on my monitor
responsive, every day
It means so much to me to know you're never far away.
Your cheerful voice, your silliness reminds me of my own,
This comfort of connectedness Is one I've never known.
You're now a power user,
of my software and my drives, I'm working on the licensing
Required of ex-wives,
I hope you'll open up Drive C and download all of this,
And let it prompt you, night or day, As if it were a kiss.
And if you need a hand from me, I'll soothe your MHZ,
Defrag your ROM just like your mom, And sometimes iron your shirts.
I love to cook you dinner,
and make coffee dense as DOSKEY, then to find a landscape posture in your arms to hear Bukowski.
You needn't ask, I'll multitask in every way I can,
Sweep your garageโor do massage To Ethernet our LAN.
Let me be your docking station Be your mother board, to start. I would love a hard connection to The circuits of your heart.
Let me feel you boot your system in the morning when you wake, Let me keep your programs flowing Even when they are half baked.
Let me be your surge protector, Let me be your on/off switch. I will be your back up copy
And try not to be a bitch.
I love you more than memory, and more than all the power
from an upgrade to your laptop, or from singing in the shower,
I envy all the keys that feel
your touch when you're logged on,
I'd love to be the mouse you hold
when working until dawn,
But I love the way you hold me
when we're quiet, late at night,
So I'll share you with the Internet,
And be your faithful byte.
When all is said and done, my love, I'll write-protect each word,
And send it to my Valentine,
My sweet beloved nerd.
Love, from Deborah, on Valentine's Day, 1997.
