In an apartment of brick,
the midget’s mother’s tube
didn’t get all
Four broadcast channels.
Her son was on the fire dept.
when she had all the stations.
a volunteer ladderman
Who sat quietly in the back.
A Gentleman at the end of the hall
got 8 but not 13,
til the wind loosened the leaves
and the rakish antennae
Flipped the reception.
After a week,
the landlord came down
from the roof
returning the receptor
to its origin.
8 flashed fondly on her coffee table,
reflecting a jar of indifferent candies.
The Gentleman seemed sated
but the Mother had grown
accustomed to 13, and her son
was long gone.

(Image “Autechre” © Flickr user Evan)