Stable Strategies and Others

Hooray for Eileen!

Hooray for Eileen and her bully machine

That turns out such volumes of stuff!

Some think it queer

She’s so seldom here

Few find her absence enough.

She lives in this town

(At least, here’s where’s she’s foun

d); She is graced with a runcible style.

Some think that she should

Write what they wish they could

But she freezes them out with a smile.

Let’s all celebrate

Before it’s too late

And time’s wingéd chariot’s seen,

That queen of the text,

Seldom sour, never vexed,

Eileen! — and her bully machine.

Michael Swanwick

July 16, 1994

Seattle