benzedrine (racemic amphetamine sulfate)

   n. vasoconstrictor drug, also called amphetamine, which relieves
      hay fever, catarrh, etc., and, taken internally, increases
      physical and mental activity and causes wakefulness.

 metaphor

   n. the transference of the relation between one set of objects
      to another set for the purpose of brief explanation.

 The computer center is empty,
 Silent except for the whine of the cooling fans.
 I walk the rows of CPUs,
 My skin prickling with magnetic flux.
 I open a door, cold and hard,
 And watch the lights dancing on the panels.
 A machine without soul, men call it,
 But its soul is the sweat of my comrades,
 Within it lie the years of our lives,
 Disappointment, friendship, sadness, joy,
 The algorithmic exultations,
 The long nights filled with thankless toil,
 I hear the echoes of sighs and laughter,
 And in the darkened offices
 The terminals shine like stars.

   -- Geoffrey James, The Zen of Programming