after Bruno Casiano’s painting Television

You’re so last century. In polished wood cabinetry, you appeared in living rooms for 

sound + sight in even bigger furniture consoles than radio. Remember Checkers 

speech. Remember moon landing. Remember to the moon, Alice, to the moon. All

the  kids in my  neighborhood  whined to be at the  feet  of our  family TV,  first  color 

set on the block. On Saturdays my brother and I pulled drapes tight and dipped 

buttery Lorna Doone bites into milk mugs along with tasty hi jinx from The 

Flintstones, Space Ghost, and Cool McCool. Praise chewing gum for our eyes. Praise

fizz and pop, tight and fast. Praise remote switching better than sex. McLuhan was 

probably right—images wrap around us because we are the screen and vanishing 

point for ogle and gape in the politics of gaze. Lure us to crave classier kitchens that 

dangle erotic cuisine. Deliver us to the handling in laugh track and sound bite. Take 

us live to war zones and mass shootings for soggy thoughts and prayers. 

Underthought  continues  to  elude  us  as  Box  evolves  into mega  screen  culture. 

Swift versions with surround sound and galaxies of pixels now carry us onto the far 

reaches of a still needful planet.

Rikki Santer’s poetry has been published widely and has received many honors including several Pushcart and Ohioana book award nominations, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and in 2023 she was named Ohio Poet of the Year. She is currently serving as vice-president of the Ohio Poetry Association and is a member of the teaching artist roster of the Ohio Arts Council. Her collection Resurrection Letterwas grand prize short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and her forthcoming collection, Shepherd’s Hour, won the Paul Nemser Book Prize from Lily Poetry Review Books. Please contact her through her website, https://rikkisanter.com.