It may have been just
a few hours,
who knows?
Jeopardy? Wheel of Fortune?
Then again,
it may have been
a few days...
CSI? Gone in 24? Lost?
I once watched television
on a tiny screen
at 2 am.
Stuffy little room,
over heated,
and Sue was in labor.
Some cable channel was
rebirthing the TV classics,
and contractions of canned laughter
were washing over us in the wee hours.
It seemed an eternity.
Flintstones, Jetsons, Beverly Hillbillies, Dick Van Dyke,
all delivered in the sterility of flourescent lights
and antiseptic hospital smell...
Television is always there.
Life and death played out in glass,
a surreal mirror reflecting everything
in carefully choreographed skits,
glimpsed only,
at the periphery of comprehension.
...
Only the TV knows
whether it was hours,
or days,
or more...
But when they found him,
he was slumped in the armchair.
They had to break down the door
to save his soul
from eternal television.
A contest entry
- contest for my favorites by Cat.
1400 points, ended January 12, 2008, 10 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 10 of 10
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wow...television is so engrained in our lives. This has a lot of meaning for me... my uncle was the ultimate couch potato when we were kids...it was his pleasure, his escape and ultimately his prison..it came before everyone and everything, and like your brother-in-law...it's just where they found him. I'm in awe of this, well deserved gold.
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great stuff
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i really love this piece- the irony of
both situations the life and death
burned in the passing of television seasons-
i absolutely love the conversational tone of this- and how you are able to loop the two ideas together without once changing your delivery or make it feel like a lecture.
i can't help but notice your comments to rebeka at the bottom- i am so sorry for your loss
really glad to find this here
m
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The interplay of metaphors is awesome, and this paints such a picture, I imagine the black and white tinged, slightly blue-gray light reflecting off the early morning waiting room celing and windows, waiting while watching something that is now only a mixture of ions in the air. Wild.
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Thanks. I appreciate the comments. We take TV for granted, even looking beyond it to newer technologies, but it permeates our existence.
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i love this, it made me smile, for i know folks who do this, watch the tv for hours...one show after another, it is amazing they can sit still so long. caught up in the land of black and white or living color reality sitcoms. my brother leaves his on 24/7 just for the company he says... great write here, a real life view of viewing hours or days of boxed entertainment
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Thanks rebeka My first write after a long absence. Reflecting on the death of my brother-in-law who was found in his apartment in front of the TV. Made me think also of the TV's presence during the birth of my kids... Kinda completes the circle.
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i am very sorry about your brothers death, i feel red faced for telling you i found humour in this, but i do, now that i know the circumstance, i really should think out my comments more carefully
i am sorry
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It's really my fault for not putting a note or something to give it context, and more importantly, it's not a cry for sympathy, rather a reflection on how ingrained TV is to our every moment; birth, life, and death. You said nothing inappropriate. I appreciate the comment!
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Thank you for your thoughts. No need to be glum or red-faced though. I try and find humor in everything, and frankly, the idea of eternal television as in "eternal damnation" I think is kinda funny myself
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