Friday, April 24, 2009

Thomas Alva Edison, 1949

I knew who Thomas Alva was by heart;
he was always twenty-five, suspended

over my bed like a bat, though
he was really a light bulb.

Thomas must have flickered and died
about twenty-five times before Momma said

she'd had enough: I'd go blind reading
comics in that bad light. She was right,

besides, it was cheaper,
so she burned them all one night.

.

Thomas Alva, wherever you are,
you helped me with the English I know,

it was all Greek to me, though
you never knew it--

I hope you're resting
yours truly, your enlightened

incandescent soul.

(First published in Maverick Magazine 6/7)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...