Simplicity

 Simpler Times (for me)

Not a Luddite, certainly, but

still overwhelmed and

even a little annoyed by

the world of

Netflix, Prime, Hulu,

and all the other 

five-dollar-a-month

time sappers.

My youth was long ago,

but I still remember 

and appreciate 

my little white AM radio,

the one which brought me

home team sports and

a Chicagoan who read poetry 

late at night, while I hid 

under the covers,

pretending to be asleep.

Life was so much simpler,

less complex, easier for me.

But of course, there was also polio,

and there were lynchings,

the back of the bus for black people,

corsets for women,

closets for gays.

All that, but only one brand of corn flakes.

Simplicity carries a price tag.