COLLATERAL DAMAGE

Midnight kicked its way
The chirping of cicadas are heard from the distance
Doors shut; lights off
Windows are down
Almost everybody is fast asleep
Except for one.

Eyes bored deep into the screen
Mind seared in that algorithm
Drowned by his thoughts,
He sighed;
Tired but never pained
An insurmountable silence
A quick glance at the clock
He refused to rest;

Too many adjustments
Too little time;
Too simple for his taste
Too complicated to make;
In desperation, in vain
Too tensed to make it right.

Errors, bugs, glitches
He bite back a cry;
He stared at the codes
A long pause
He almost stopped breathing
He spotted something.

He made changes,
He made revisions, double check
He runs it,
'Successfully compiled'
Almost slammed his desk
A million happy adjectives
Finally, the programmer decided to sleep.