To Television Poem by Robert Pinsky

To Television

Rating: 3.5


Not a "window on the world"
But as we call you,
A box a tube

Terrarium of dreams and wonders.
Coffer of shades, ordained
Cotillion of phosphors
Or liquid crystal

Homey miracle, tub
Of acquiescence, vein of defiance.
Your patron in the pantheon would be Hermes

Raster dance,
Quick one, little thief, escort
Of the dying and comfort of the sick,

In a blue glow my father and little sister sat
Snuggled in one chair watching you
Their wife and mother was sick in the head
I scorned you and them as I scorned so much

Now I like you best in a hotel room,
Maybe minutes
Before I have to face an audience: behind
The doors of the armoire, box
Within a box--Tom & Jerry, or also brilliant
And reassuring, Oprah Winfrey.

Thank you, for I watched, I watched
Sid Caesar speaking French and Japanese not
Through knowledge but imagination,
His quickness, and Thank You, I watched live
Jackie Robinson stealing

Home, the image--O strung shell--enduring
Fleeter than light like these words we
Remember in, they too winged
At the helmet and ankles.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Gajanan Mishra 30 January 2013

I watch live. good poem. I like it.

5 1 Reply
Ahmad Shiddiqi 15 September 2009

bold and vast. keep writing! ! !

3 1 Reply
Dale Remlee 13 February 2008

From youthful intellectual arrogance to mature gratitude for the wonderful gifts all around us. Makes growing up / growing old worthwhile.

1 0 Reply
Chris Mendros 31 January 2007

i don't think i've ever heard it described better.

1 0 Reply
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Robert Pinsky

Robert Pinsky

New Jersey
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