this wrote itself in my head while I was walking around a gutted floor in the local telecom building.

Dusty, dirty desks reside unused,
Old, grey metal cabinets occupy space;
Shelves collapsed together confusedly,
Scattered all about the place.

Grimy insides of mechanical printer,
Resting on top of old counter;
New back in 1982, old junk now,
Obsolete waste just taking up space.

Dog-eared manuals faded with time,
Stunning graphics once state of the art;
Filled with instructions for using devices,
Now dissasembled and used for parts.

Flaking paint, plaster litter the floor,
Surface tiles long since ripped up;
Walls shorn of prints, paper and more,
Only plaster and lathe hold some up.
Once a busy floor filled with telephone operators,
Now just empty husk, awaiting the bulldozers!


(c) 2004 MSW