Either Way

Who could have wasted the time
That no one can remember?
More than thirty years ago,

In a windowless office
With overhead fluorescents
And acoustic ceiling tiles,

A boxy computer sat
Atop a black metal desk,
The garish cathode-ray screen

Glowing with a colored grid
That showed a Minesweeper game
Waiting to be defeated.

If someone had worked there, they
Might have wasted time that day.