Television Set

Chrissie Anderson Peters

On the way from Whitesburg to Hindman,
trash and debris littered roadsides
where waters rose far above creekbanks.
At the edge of a median, a television set rested,
lopsided square, long past its prime,
no doubt having seen tragedies comparable
to what once flashed across its screen.
As the debris got cleared over months of efforts,
the television remained, stranded in the median,
everyone seeing it, but nobody watching.
A thing of resiliency, a spirit of survival,
like others in this community, cast aside,
forgotten and neglected, left behind for far too long,
while people passed by, some meaning well, some barely caring,
all taking note of what seemed out of place,
even if they didn’t stop to do anything about it.