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.
