A FOOL’S PARADISE

     That World Wide Web of information now
     Available at your own fingertip,
     That even on a pauper can endow
     Such knowledge that the Prince of Serendip

     Would envy him—such knowledge is a boon
     To all humanity within its reach,
     And one might think there’s coming very soon—

     Enlightenment, for all it has to teach.

     But humans will be humans and thus use
     Encyclopedias to prop up broken stools.
     There’s nothing lofty that we won’t abuse—
     The wisdom of the world is lost on fools.

          But not on you, I hope, who in this trove
          Will savor fruits from Academia’s grove.

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