Typewriter Rodeo: What Is It?

Each week, the Standard reaches out to Austin’s Typewriter Rodeo for a custom poem on Texas topics.

By David FruchterOctober 22, 2021 9:40 am, ,

Noticing, appreciating, musing in, the small things around us. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

What Is It?

a single bright spark
in a vast dark hall
casting a sphere
of illumination, protection, and warmth

an uncurling living sprout
breaking out new from the cold earth
can the air really be
this impossibly fresh
and sweet

floating strains
of a distant, lilting melody
that you follow down the street
around the corner
and through the park
until finally there it is
like it’s been there forever,
waiting
in the gazebo

or a tall, clear glass
of cool clear water
condensation beading
and running down the sides
when all you’ve known
is thirst

the mystery
is all of these things
and none of them

it cannot be touched
yet touch
is all that it is

it is a gift,
when there is no giver
only
a willingness
to receive

a photo of the typewritten poem

typewriter rodeo logoTypewriter Rodeo airs each Friday on Texas Standard. Send us your ideas for a poem on FacebookTwitter, or send us an email.

Typewriter Rodeo is also available anytime in podcast form.

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