Seven Hacker News poems
An anthology of found poetry
These "accidental" poems were discovered through computational analysis of 30 million comments on Hacker News. Line breaks have been added and titles suggested. They are otherwise presented unaltered.
In the past 10 years, some of the finest poetry on the internet has been published, unheralded, in the comments section of technology aggregation site Hacker News.
On first publication, the poems in this anthology – pseudonymous as a rule – met an indifferent or even hostile reception. But they deserve a second look. Their freewheeling, naturalistic rhythms blend the fluidity of everyday speech with the rigor of computer code. They share a penchant for juxtaposition, a preoccupation with the social implications of technology, and a fondness for pedantry. And their playfully subversive language is a welcome contrast to the otherwise rancorous discourse of the website.
It is therefore my pleasure to present for the first time a selection of seven Hacker News poems.
"Dumb" by pishpash (2018):
Give me a dumb car.
The software is not ready.
Get them off the road.
"Intact" by rbanffy (2014):
Middle ground is still asymmetric.
You know what they know about you,
but you still know nothing
about them.
Your privacy is invaded, but theirs remains
intact.
"salt and butter" by netmonk (2022):
As a Carnivore,
i mostly only eat beef,
with salt and butter.
"Preordained" by futureshock (2020):
This really nails it.
The world does not build itself.
We build the world.
Nothing is preordained,
except in retrospect.
"Second Troy" by twic (2019):
Meanwhile,
to the Greeks,
Troy was a city,
but to us,
a Chad.
"Opinion" by faragon (2017):
Unix is OK.
That article is bullshit,
in my opinion.
"Stars with other names" by jen729w (2016):
Bad example, I'm afraid.
The Sun is,
specifically,
our star.
Other stars aren't suns,
they're stars with other names.