Not a "window on the world" <br />But as we call you, <br />A box a tube <br /> <br />Terrarium of dreams and wonders. <br />Coffer of shades, ordained <br />Cotillion of phosphors <br />Or liquid crystal <br /> <br />Homey miracle, tub <br />Of acquiescence, vein of defiance. <br />Your patron in the pantheon would be Hermes <br /> <br />Raster dance, <br />Quick one, little thief, escort <br />Of the dying and comfort of the sick, <br /> <br />In a blue glow my father and little sister sat <br />Snuggled in one chair watching you <br />Their wife and mother was sick in the head <br />I scorned you and them as I scorned so much <br /> <br />Now I like you best in a hotel room, <br />Maybe minutes <br />Before I have to face an audience: behind <br />The doors of the armoire, box <br />Within a box--Tom & Jerry, or also brilliant <br />And reassuring, Oprah Winfrey. <br /> <br />Thank you, for I watched, I watched <br />Sid Caesar speaking French and Japanese not <br />Through knowledge but imagination, <br />His quickness, and Thank You, I watched live <br />Jackie Robinson stealing <br /> <br />Home, the image--O strung shell--enduring <br />Fleeter than light like these words we <br />Remember in, they too winged <br />At the helmet and ankles.<br /><br />Robert Pinsky<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-television/
