I will never be able to write real poetry

because I do not know how to make tabs work on my computer

If I had a typewriter

I could be a real contender

Making poems located in the middle of a page

Or triangle shaped

Or strung out on a clothesline

I learned how to type in the seventh grade

On a black standard Underwood

A very serious machine

At my finest

I achieved a speed of 20 words per minute.

When I went to college down south

I had my own typewriter

Royal Portable with matching suitcase

On which I typed essays

Using erasable paper and white-out

Even though I cursed the status quo

Because I was a rebel

I knew how to use the tab key.

When I opened my law practice I bought an IBM word processor and

Drafted motions and memoranda

Employing my tab key deftly and

With business acumen.

But my computer is different

It turns a blank face to me.

I can’t find the tab key

So I am limited to writing in ragged rectangles

And have to leave typographical advances to poets smart enough

To understand a screen.