The Log Duplex Decitrig

This is my slide rule,
  There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My slide rule is my friend,
I will obey my slide rule,
  And I shall learn to love it as a friend.
  When it tells me that 5 x 5 is 23.8,
Then, by Damn,
  Five times five is twenty-three point eight.

I will learn the anatomy of my slide rule.
  Though, I die in the struggle, 
  I will use faithfully every scale.
The black scale and the red, the inverted C and the inside out log:
  the reversed A and the mutilated D.
I will master them all and they will serve me well, they will.

I will cherish me slipstick, and will treat it kindly;
  I will call it my baby, and never shall profanity sear its
  long graceful mahogany limbs.
My slide rule shall be my brother in suffering.
  Through long hours of midnight toil we will work together,
  my slide rule and I.
And on the great day when my slide rule and I have finished our
  appointed task and problem is done and answers are right.
I will take that damn stick, and have one hell of a fire. I will!

Reprinted from The Ohio State Engineer