I watched Bode Miller lose,
Apolo Anton Ohno come in third,
the first male African-American to win
a solo winter Olympics event win,
but hardly graciously, the thrill
of victory, the agony of defeat, no,
that's ABC, this was NBC,
the Barking Dog Company,
His Master's Voice, have you had it
in an olive, the oral polio vaccine?
Have you had it with the Eddie Bauer
decal package?

I told Nicky we only seemed to meet
at funerals. I guess next it will be mine.
I didn't say that. Don't want to hang crepe.
Roxy Gordon said he was working on
his death chant. Or was that Albert
Huffstickler? Huff. Ruta Maya Coffee House.
Cactus Café. Paw's coffee cup. Cherokee, North Carolina.
People carry Philippics, Jeremiads, and Pasquinades around
in their backpack, read it on the subway.

I used to know
how an internal combustion engine
worked. A superheterodyne receiver.
I could fix a TACAN, a TVOR, or an ILS.
Of course, I had to have a technical manual
and an oscilloscope. I could troubleshoot and repair
computers once. Now I have four remotes to watch TV
and can't program a VCR. I don't know how to use
a cell phone, let alone an iPod. An old bitch,
gone in the teeth. A botched civilization.