Television

The New Reality

After years of discussion—

an unspoken agreement

and a never acknowledged

pride in “how we were different”

not lured by

fashion and toys and

electronic promotions—

My wife broke down

using Christmas and

our urgent son’s unawareness

of tacit marital togetherness

as an excuse to buy

a high definition flat screen TV

38” wide which my son installed with reverence

in my living room. Now

natural disasters Masters golf

3-D movies Law and Order

the weatherman

and Housewives

are the realest things

in our house.

My new year’s resolution

which I had been mulling over

for several months

until I came up with

“to have more fun with myself”

has with this undeniable reality

resettled into the resolve

“to spend more time

watching real stuff on the TV”

but especially those moments

of passion violence love

so close so unpixilated

that they arouse some real feelings

that might otherwise die.