seen through the screen of an old black-and-white television, fading and hard to make out
i once asked an old woman
about the experience of watching a television for the first time in her life
she said it was very big and beautiful and she looked very serious
i felt uncomfortable and out-of-place
i imagined a small girl, entranced by a black-and-white t.v.
the t.v. turns to her and looks sad and says, "there are serious problems
with the human condition which realistically no amount of self-referential postmodern poetry will solve"
the girl laughs hard, because she has never watched a television before
then she calls her friends on the telephone, to invite them
to a grand tea party
