Representations of the Printed Page (A Paranoia) (1984)

©1985 by Dallas Denny

Source: Dallas Denny. (1984). Representations of the printed page: A paranoia. Unpublished poem.

 
 

 
 

 

 

Representations of the Printed Page

A Paranoia by Dallas Denny

 
Flash! Click!

Flash! Whir!

A marvelous cloning of letters and numbers

Instant replications

And only a nickel

 

Put it in here

Close the cover

Set the dial for the number of copies

Push the button

It comes out there

 

It should be easy, now, for spies

And agents of foreign powers

You’d think so, wouldn’t you?

But what about the other copy

The one that they don’t tell you about?

 

Somewhere, I know, agents of the Treasury Department

Have a record of every illegally copied

Copyrighted page

A giant book of names

With an entry for you, and one for me

 

So pay attention to that sign on the wall!

The one that warns you about duplicating copyrighted material

Click! Whir!

Instant replications

And only a nickel