Luxury

Did you know April is National Poetry Month? Did you know that most of us are poets, even if we never put it to paper? Maybe you have confined yourself to the trite and true "roses are red" genre. Maybe you are a fan of the bawdy limerick (There once was a man from Nantucket...). Maybe you take long walks, find a shade tree and try your hand at the haiku. Maybe you re-write the lyrics in your head to your favorite songs. Or maybe you prefer to just read the works of others. No problem. It's all good, as the young people say.
I stumbled across an opinion piece in the Washington Post by Garrison Keillor, who is as delight a writer as any I've ever read. I commend this piece for your pleasure here. Won't take you more than a couple of minutes. It is how I discovered the existence of National Poetry Month.
The first poem that comes to mind when I think of poetry is usually Luxury, by Nikki Giovanni. For those of you who have never been exposed to it, I hope it moves you. To those who already a familiar, I hope your souls is warmed, as when you unexpectedly bump into an old friend.

Luxury

i suppose living
in a materialistic society
luxury
to some would be having
more than what you need

living in an electronic age seeing
the whole world by pushing a button
the nth degree might perhaps be
adequately represented by having
someone there to push
the buttons for you

i have thought if only
i could become rich and famous I would
live luxuriously in New York knowing
famous people eating
in expensive restaurants calling
long distance anytime I want 

but you held me
one evening and now I know
the ultimate luxury
of your love

If you are up to it, share your poetry, or share poems that you love.

Nostaglia in a Nutshell

I recently had the opportunity to travel back in time. Seriously. My son's friend Davis had an NES Classic, which is a small scale replica of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, which released in the US in 1985.

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As a child coming of age in the 80s, the NES defined my childhood as much as anything. I say 80's, what pops into your mind? Michael Jackson's zipper jacket? His Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller videos? Madonna and Cyndi Lauper? Yes, yes. All of these things are quintessential. But so is Mario, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, and Tetris!!

So when Davis offered to let me borrow his system (which I suspect he had grown bored with, having already owned a PS4 and recently acquiring the new Nintendo Switch), I happily obliged. I have to say, I was unprepared for what came next.

The NES Classic does not come with cartridges you have to blow into before inserting just right - it has 30 games preloaded. Classics such as Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Super Mario 1, 2 & 3. Kid Icarus, Legend of Zelda. Mega Man II, Metroid, Contra. (I've got to stop fanboying or I will never finish this blog post with any dignity.) The games brought back such sweet memories.

When Super Mario 3 came out, I bought with my own money (which made me feel like a man) and stayed up all night playing it. Beat the game in a day, but I didn't realize I had an eye appointment the next day. My dad took me to my appointment, and bleary eyed and exhausted, I did poorly on reading the eye chart and was given a prescription for glasses. Ah, the folly of youth! Playing SMB3 in my 40s was like being Quantum Leaped into my 17 year old body. Some of the little known tricks erupted like lava from deep within my memory banks (the same memory that refuses to tell me where I last laid down my cell phone). I cannot convey how wistful and delighted I felt.

The kids came in and dutifully slammed the graphics. "This is the flower of 1987 technology!!!", I retorted. A friend came by, saw the little wonder, and started scrolling through the titles. When we saw Tecmo Bowl, he went nuts. He started a game, and as I falling into a wormhole, was taken back to his childhood. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

The kids each tried their hand at Punch Out, which in my day was Mike Tyson's Punch Out, but I guess Mike Tyson's name doesn't carry the cachet that it used to. No matter. I watched these whippersnappers get pummeled by Glass Joe, Don Flamenco and Piston Honda. Primitive graphics aside, these games still can suck you in. These youngsters got a feel for how hardcore our games were back then. Some of those games - if you died, you started from the very beginning. No "save anywhere" capability. Pah.


The NES Classic. Making Gaming Great Again.