poem of the day 08.05.16

the robbers

my wife and i joke sometimes

about what would happen

if our apartment got robbed

of course, this is no laughing matter

but what would the robbers think

if they waltzed into our place with its 26-inch tv

that you can’t even watch foreign films on

because the subtitles are so tiny

the vcr/dvd combo for christ’s sake

cd in stacks like ancient roman ruins

and books…goddamned books everywhere

the tech: a pc and laptop, both six years old

little jewelry on hand and clothing fraying at the seams

t-shirt and socks heading toward a decade

no cash on the premise

and a seventeen year old cat

who’s random shit piles they might step on

as they case the joint

what would these thieves even take?

expired light beer and jug vodka in the fridge

half-empty ice cube trays and questionable sour cream

original art in yellowing stacks on cardboard desks

that the shitty poetry mags don’t even want

the action figures taken out of the packages

those poor burglars

picking the one apartment in all of brooklyn

whose whole life is one obsolete technology after another

all of that expert criminal activity wasted on this?

sitting here now, feeling like a luddite, a relic

i wonder how it is that we even live here

how maybe we should go out and get the latest technology

smartphones and ipads and fitbits

and watches we can talk into like spies

devices that will wash us and brush our teeth

a sixty-five inch LED smart television

that tracks what we watch

a blue-ray combo that streams like a mighty river

go top shelf and buy prepared meals online

update the wardrobe and go name brand

stuff some cash in between the couch cushions

get a boutique pet or even cable

go on a real, honest to goodness

credit card bloating, downhome american shopping spree

get drunk and go to bed with the doors wide open

to this crazy sweltering city

and see what happens

a vile purloining of all of our new fancy possessions

or just waking up the next day

feeling hungover and  hollow

like something else much more dear to us

had been lifted and taken