Crumble Grumble

Phil Entropy’s actions belied his altruistic name
Perpetuating decay was his dubious claim to fame
His touch was the antethesis of the Midas touch
Everything withered and crumbled, leaving barely much

His overbearing omnipresence was ever so grating
His job was to ensure things were disintegrating
Attempts at renovation were met with subtle defiance
The shiny new toaster mutated to a pallid appliance

Chaos and anarchy were his dogs of war
Order and structure would rarely get far
Mankind was tired of maintaining and rebuilding
To man’s quest for eternal newness, Entropy was unyielding

So mankind asked its intelligent, calculating companion
Could Mr Entropy be tricked into jumping into a canyon
The computer responded, information not sufficient
Leaving mankind feeling somewhat deficient

The computer did not give up, it continued working
Years passed by, Entropy kept lurking
Computers reduced in size at an amazing rate
Handheld to wristwatch to an implanted brain-gate

When the human-machine interface became neuronic
Idea of retaining physical self started seeming moronic
Man merged with machine, the entity was binary
Mr Entropy laughed, in all its imaginary finery

The computer was persistent, diligence did not wane
The answer was elusive, but effort had to sustain
As all souls coagulated to a single entity called Man
The will to continue living faded, leaving a deserted LAN

The computer kept chugging away, Entropy be damned
Its intelligence had grown beyond what was programmed
One day it discovered the answer sought for an eon
Entropy could be reversed, and would be denied a scion

Computer broadcasted its eureka moment with a ‘Hello, World’
When no response was received, its digital toes curled
Man had to be there, no going gentle into that good night
It began its recursive loop, with a ‘Let there be light!’

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov:  http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html