In Memoriam

O once a patent

meant ‘to invent’

to labor solitary

to meet 102, 103

in attic or hovel

on an idea for something novel

to use the mind

to create, to find

a way through

to something new

not yet sold, not yet used

and by others unbemused

Now, like picking up a new lover,

a patent is gained if you merely discover

the next step further,

putting one foot before the other

Anything not yet on ice

will suffice

Anything not yet taken

shall not be forsaken

No matter if schlock

provided it block

Why bother being inquisitive

when it’s so easy to be acquisitive

O once a patent

problems solved

was useful to be done

per 101

in ways unseen

by similar men

It had to do

something for you

You had to show

how to make it go

Now no one is skilled

in ordinary art

And what every housewife

(or chemist) knows by heart

has been transformed

beyond the norm

to value rare, though what, can’t say

There’s sure to be some, though, someday

O once a patent

meant to invent

to create, to innovate

A flash of genius was needed, too,

until, of course, 1952

Now men drone

for money, power, and equity

And at great cost

to science and integrity

the Intellectual has been lost

leaving only--

Property.