Category: Poetry

My new monitor will be
of size 32 inches, much
bigger than the old one,
the old one hardly a monitor at all,
just a screen.

I’ll order my new monitor
when my ship comes in.

I’ll put it where the old one sat
for years, sort of half alongside
my comfy chair, the chair
also old, but still  reliable.

My big new monitor will need
something substantial under it, the
table there now is much too small.

There is space enough for a bigger table,
but it has to be extra solid,
so if I happen to
bump against it when I stand up

it won’t wobble and
cause a tragedy.
When I buy electronics,
I never buy the insurance,
I think it’s a ripoff.

. . .

At Amazon, I look at side tables and
end tables and just-plain tables, looking for
something maybe 20 inches square,
but not too high –
I do my computer typing leaning
way back and slouched way down.

Here’s  one that looks sturdy for sure –
it has an almost medieval quality,
with braces of strap iron,
like a Tennessee jail cell.

There are not many reviews,
so I read them all.
Overall, 4.5 stars out of 5.

The reviewers fall
into three classes:
– the majority love it
– pragmatic types say it’s adequate
– one single-star reviewer
is disappointed by the size.

Here’s what they said:

After I order, it arrives in two days. As I bring the box into the house, I hear something bumping around inside. It’s the table in its own tight little box stamped with Chinese characters and bound in yards of transparent tape. It warns “Do not open with knife” and “Returns will only be accepted in original package”.

The table is packed flat of course, and must be assembled. The directions are simple and clear.

Included are two plastic bags of eight screws each, a bag of four adjustable feet, and an Allen wrench. The other parts are individually wrapped and packed tight together using precision-shaped Styrofoam bumpers.

IKEA has nothing on the KSWIN company – the parts fit together perfectly. It takes me about fifteen minutes, that long  because I’m pretty methodical.