Ode to an Antique Radio

drink more Ovaltine?



a monster, full of tubes and precarious wiring,
a big speaker shrouded by a hemp screen,
and a turntable from when shelac was king.
I often wonder where it's been.

five minutes to warm up before a sound can be heard.
an eerie green light illuminates the dial.
news of war in the pacific perhaps was once heard
by an elderly person when they were a chil'

real wood, cause back then they didn't skimp.
a compartment to store your favorite seventy-eights.
for whom did this once document that ill-fated blimp?
did they panic when Wells told of martians irate?

Bakelite knobs and cherrywood stain
sixty-four pounds bought for thirty-five dollars
Guthrie, Williams, Presley have premiered in it's grain
when bigger was better, and radios were taller.

it told amazing stories to it's owners way back when.
if I turn it on now it will tell amazing stories of today.
instead I look at it unplugged and imagine it then.
I think I like it better that way.