                        Security



For twenty years the building has stood
Deserted and half-forgotten
On a prestige corner in the high-rent district,
Badly in need of painting but otherwise in good repair,
A monument to all that was modern and luxurious
Twenty years ago.  

Typical of upper-class housing of its time it had everything,
All self-repairing,
Including radar kitchens, solid-state heating and air conditioning,
And Total Security.  

That was the problem:
The Automatic Total Security system proved to be too good
And the repair system 
Was not good enough 
And one night the electric eye cameras forgot how to recognize people
And the robots threw all the tenants out as "prowlers"
And refused to let anyone back in.  

Since neither the owners nor the state nor anyone else
Feels that forcing entry is worth a small war
The building will stand
Deserted and half-forgotten
On a prestige corner in the high-rent district
For another forty years or so
Until its self-contained atomic pile runs out
And the former tenants (or their heirs)
Can return and claim their belongings.  



                                 -- Tom Digby
                                 Original 21:00 07/15/1970
                                 Entered  16:32 11/13/2002 (title added)


