But the Schmirk
Thought the future they wanted
Was VILE!

The Schmirk hated the future! Hated nanotechnology!
Rejected the vision, no hint of apology!
Wanted people to age without cell repair,
and never have cars that could fly through the air.
(It is not understood, what could cast this great pall,
Tho t'was rumored his brain was two sizes too small.)

Nobody knows why, but consider the following:
The Schmirk had a penchant for public-trough wallowing.
If the Nerds got the grant money, surely, he figured,
his own cut of the take was quite sure to be jiggered.
For the stuff that he claimed he could do in his lab
Looked, beside nanotech, just a bit drab.

So he stood in his lab with his anger fermenting,
for surely in Shopton the Nerds were inventing.
Molecular gadgets! Atomically true!
Tips that did chemistry! Undid it too!
Assemblers to build us a bridge to the stars;
Programmable matter; and yes, flying cars!

Whatever his motives, the Schmirk, on the eve,
of a great science breakthrough, could only feel peeve.
He hated the Nerds and their whole future vision,
And sneered at their plans with no little derision.
"They're playing with molecules," muttered the Schmirk.
"They're building machines, and they're making them work!"

"They've designed nanofactories!" Snarling and scoffing,
"Home synthesizers are soon in the offing!"
Then he growled, with his schmirk fingers nervously drumming,
"I MUST find a way to keep nano from coming!"

It was quite bad enough they would have flying cars,
and personal spaceships, and houses on Mars;
But the thing that most greatly disgruntled the Schmirk,
Was the prospect of people not having to work.
They would chatter and travel and party and play,
Oh, they'd play, and they'd play, and they'd play EVERYDAY!

That was something the Schmirk couldn't stomach — No way!

So he sneered with a scowl and a frown on his brow,
"I MUST keep this Breakthrough from coming!
...But HOW?"

Then he got an idea!
An awful idea!
THE SCHMIRK
GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!

"Here is what must be done," said the Schmirk with a sneer,
And he called in his minions from far, wide, and near.
"We'll discredit the science, spread doubt and derision,
Politically swaying the funders' decision!"
And he quickly distributed papers and articles,
Detailing troubles with moving small particles.

Then the Schmirk told his minions — they, scientists all,
All grasping for funding for labs large and small,
"That isn't physics, materials science,
Not even chemistry; join my alliance —
It doesn't matter what you used to do;
We're ALL doing NANOTECHNOLOGY too!"

So they went, hat in hand, down to old Foggy Bottom,
And they dickered for grants — and by cracky, they got 'em!
"See? WE're nanotech now," said the Schmirk in a huff.
"You Nerds down in Shopton, you're pretty small stuff."
We've got the funding, and we've got the labs,
And all the ideas you had, they're up for grabs."