poem

 Channel One

Everyone is television channel now

Broadcasting 24/7 round the clock

We sit down to watch, flipping

Through the choices listlessly.

Nothing seems good enough to commit to.

Half the channels are endless loops of commercials

Asking you buy something you don’t need

Like an expensive juicer or the cleansing solution specially formulated 

To get all the juice stains out of your carpet. 

Sometimes you stumble upon an old show

That you used to like for very specific reasons

You don't quite remember, but it’s nice and comfortable.

Reminds you of a time when life was simpler, safer, less chaotic.

It’s only nostalgia but you’re probably not going to find anything better.

Thousands of channels, nothing worth watching. 

That’s not what you paid for! Cable/internet is expensive!

Come on man, it’s been a long day, you’re tired

And don't really feel much like reading tonight

It’s only Pessoa and Simic on the nightstand

And this is not a good time for them

But is it asking too much from your passive engagement device

To come up with something a little more distracting 

Than— The Man Who Was Embarrassed By His Own Feelings 

Or— The Girl Who Reheats Her Leftover Cod in the Office Microwave

Or—  The Uncle Who Isn’t As Good To His Nephews as His Uncles Were To Him  

Or— The Surprisingly Malignant Ex-Wife

Or—- The Woman Who Stayed Angry at a Man For 45 Years

It doesn’t even dull the clarion call alarm

Coming from inside the house 

Warning that you don't have the wherewithal tonight 

To deal with the deluge of despair and despondency

Ominously clacking their way up the basement stairs.

Remain patient. Go back to the beginning.

Press the home button and see what your options really are.

Maybe a glass of Spanish red wine.

Your wife is in the kitchen loading the dishwasher.

One of your kids is upstairs

And the other is downstairs.

Suddenly you drop the remote.

It all makes sense now.

You’re a television show too.

A side character like Norm from Cheers.

You yell— hey everyone! come in here and watch! it’s my favorite show!

But no one comes

They don’t hear you, or maybe they do.

It’s a rerun

And they've seen this one before.

6/9/25