Sunday, December 15, 2013

"The Privacy of Typewriters"


The Privacy of Typewriters

by Les Murray


I am an old book troglodyte
one who composes on paper
and types up the result
as many times as need be.
The computer scares me,
its crashes and codes,
its links with spies and gunshot,
its text that looks pre-published
and perhaps has been.
I don’t know who is reading
what I write on a carriage
that doesn’t move or ding.
I trust the spoor of botch,
whiteouts where thought deepened,
wise freedom from Spell Check,
sheets to sell the National Library.
I fear the lore
of that baleful misstruck key
that fills a whiskered screen
with a writhe of child pornography
and the doors smashing in
and the cops handcuffing me
to a gristlier video culture
coralline in an ever colder sea. 

Source (shared by Bryan Sherwood)

5 comments:

Ton S. said...

"I am an old book troglodyte..."
Brilliant.

Bill M said...

I have not heard the troglodyte for years! Great. A book troglodyte.

Richard P said...

My favorite phrase is "the spoor of botch."

Scott K said...

Bloody Australians! Them and their typewriters n' poetry n' stuff.

Rob Bowker said...

This deserves typing-up! Thanks for sharing.

Popular Posts

Blog Archive