Cities and Programs

Rome was not built in a day;
Neither is a complex program.

Both might have twisted, turning, needless complexities,
And yet the program is much more easily mended
Than the living, breathing, cobblestoned city.

Both can have hasty, ill-advised, poorly considered changes
(That often prove disastrous)
And sometimes work more by accident than by design.

Both ultimately devolve into disuse and ruin,
Living on in the memory of fewer and fewer
Until at long last, the last rememberer's long life
Is snuffed
softly
out.