By Ajanta Judd All Rights Reserved – 3 pm 28/06/2020 Australian EST
Prompt 17; Hour 17: Write a poem about a form of technology that is obsolete or is headed that way. The technology could just be referred to in passing, like a telephone booth, or it could be a CD that is the focal point of the poem. The degree of focus on obsolete technology is up to you.
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{Not that Pedestal}
As Patti la Belle belted out from the old CD player,
She said to me, “You take my breath away, Ajanta”
I replied, “It’s important to breathe
Removing someone’s breath from their body is a concern for me
A heavy responsibility
Will I be too much. Am I too much?
Will that person be enough for me?
Am I already on a pedestal?
Goddesses forbid that for sentient beings
I might be elevated beyond my status as a mere mortal
with all my foibles and idiosyncrasies
which will no doubt emerge over time
personality traits – nuances – nagging little behaviours
The CD will be scratched – the song will stutter and splutter
You will assume and apply judgement
destabilising to a damsel on a pedestal
It could build up quite a wobble and down I’ll crash in your estimation.
This thing we might share – a tenuous possibility
as the beat struggles to play through the flaws
Always the concern in the beginning and after all,
it has been said by others that I am too much for them
and when all was said and done
I was too much for them.