The Ongoing Poem Series About the Winter of 2006 Carries On in the Following Manner

January 5, 2006
Sometimes it just takes someone else pointing it out

Last night we settled down in the living room
with the intention of a couple of hours quiet work before supper

Bill was on the couch writing lesson plans on the laptop
and I was at the dining table crafting paper lanterns for my party

gluing alternating lozenges of pink and black tissue paper
onto white paper lanterns from Chinatown
to make things that look sort of like beach balls
which was satisfying

But almost right away Bill started having computer issues
and after a bit of futzing around we deduced that the power cord
had just shorted out completely and was no longer functioning at all
and the battery was not charged

All of which caused a certain amount of angst
as he’d not only planned to do work
but we’d also been excited to watch a movie later on

But then we had the idea of just marching down
right then and there to the computer store to buy a new cord
Ah ha

We decided that Bill would go and I would stay and defrost some soup

And as he was heading out the door I offered him my ipod
which he was interested to take as he has never used an ipod before

So out he went
and I sat cutting and gluing and defrosting
and eventually after a certain amount of travail
he came home with the necessary cord

as well as an obvious but fascinating observation
about the little white earphones
namely that they make the music play

right inside your head

And he’s entirely right
If I’d thought about it at all
which I hadn’t
I’d have assumed you heard it inside your ears
where you hear most things
But I paid especial attention this morning
and it really is like Bob Dylan is singing away
somewhere up behind your left eyeball
just a bit above the spot inside your skull
where I hear my own voice in my head
when I’m thinking in words
Me and Bob hanging out inside my brainpan


image source is here