Robert Wagner Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

From June 28th of this year to the middle of October, my world, with the exception of the recurring visits with my surgeon, primary care doctor, and surgery, was confined to my family room, bathroom, and bedroom. Most of the time I sat in my chair with my legs raised. I would begin the day hopping from the bedroom, to the bathroom, to my chair in the family room, and at the end of the day hop back to bed. As frustrating as this was, I was blessed to have much of my music library, and, video on my Kindle. So, through the use of this tablet I was able to transport myself to places other than my chair. It was reminiscent of  6 months in 2011, when I was hipless, due to a MRSA infection (it took a long time for the infectious disease doctor to find an antibiotic that would kill the MRSA without killing me ... alas, I am allergic to most antibiotic that kill MRSA). I remember having the most realistic dreams of running down the street and visiting the city park, and sipping coffee and eating a scone at the local coffee shop. we have times in our lives when it is necessary to transport ourselves to other places, albeit vicariously through things like a Kindle.

My Time Machine

My chair, 
at times over 
the past twelve weeks
my prison cell. 
Seven weeks more 
before my sentence
is completed. 
But today,
my chair is going to be
my time machine.

Not flashy and gaudy,
with a Christmas display
of flashing, colorful lights,
nor as threatening as that
celebrated machine of H.G. Wells. 
I sit in my time machine.
With headphones and
tablet, I am able to 
travel to Vienna to hear
Mozart and Beethoven,
to be in the audience
with the screaming horde
witnessing the Beatle’s
first appearance at
the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Perhaps I will sit
in the historic Carnegie Hall,
for the 1938 Jazz Concert
with Benny Goodman, Lionel
Hampton, Gene Krupa, 
Harry James and Teddy Wilson,
hearing in person, “Sing, Sing, Sing”
and, “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon”.

Or shall I travel to the Civil War
battlefields of Stephen Crane,
to Guadacanal, or Iwo Jima,
to Ireland and William Butler Yeats
speaking his magical words?

Shall I travel inter-dimensionally
to Asimov’s Foundation, or
Frank Herbert’s Dune, and
the future worlds of Heinlein,
with a detour to Tolkein’s
Middle Earth, dodging orcs
and spending a day with 
Tom Bombadil and Goldberry?

The gift of time and
Inter-dimensional travel.
Where shall I travel today?
© 2019, Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

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Alison Hodges February 18, 2020 at 1:15 PM I felt transported myself by this poem. Well done friend!