The millennium's swiftly approaching,
And our peace of mind it is encroaching.
  We are feeling dismay
  Because of Y2K,
A subject we're anxiously broaching.

Computing in the old days was hard,
You had to insert a punch card.
  Improvements have been made,
  But people are afraid
That the next year will catch us off guard.

It started near two score ago,
When computers were quite large and slow.
  Technicians had to fight
  For each small kilobyte
Since bad CPUs were status quo.

The task came of programming the dates,
(And they didn't have the aid of Bill Gates).
  They entered month and day
  In the usual way
To account for all possible states.

But the year was its own special case
Since there were four whole digits to face.
  All those years would be stored
  On the big motherboard
They were seeking a shortcut to place.

So an idea was brought to the floor,
(Using judgment that was very poor).
  The programmers said, "We
  Could save some memory
If we used just two digits, not four.

For a while, it may have saved two bits,
But now's when the other shoe hits.
  Due to their small shortcut,
  We'll be stuck in a rut
When the wrong date is what it emits

The event that's inspiring fear
Is Two Thousand, the upcoming year
  As we all wait in terror
  For the world's largest error:
Nineteen Hundred is what will appear.

What effect will this have on our lives
In a land where technology thrives?
  Some fanatics presume
  That the answer is doom;
Armageddon where no one survives.

Will our nation's computers all crash?
Will the banks suddenly lose all their cash?
  Will food loads dissipate
  Fraught with fright for our freight
As our fuel supply dwindles to ash?

Airplane routes will be poorly directed
Martial law will leave us unprotected.
  All things have been conceived:
  Certain Christians believe
The Messiah will be resurrected.

But these worrisome theories are backed
By much paranoia, not by fact.
  Though it is true that many'll
  Fear the millennial,
We'd do best not to overreact.