We ooohed and ahhhed at the sixty-four World’s Fair
and the droids that would take away our work and
give us more time w/the kids. More time to smoke. Read n watch.
Drink n fuck n fuck some more. Raw metallic arms did the work
of fifty men w/o unions and overtime. Hulking huge brains
sprayed pretty light and reasoned our equations.

The atom had no blowback. The Wonderful World of Chemistry
was just one pill ahead. We marveled at modems and picture phones.
Big oil gave us dinosaurs. The Happy Plastic Family heartened us all.
Different trips. Same monkey. Disney ruled the air.
Weather stations under the Arctic ice
would correct the world’s climate.

The cities of the future had no ghetto
(that we could see) They were less sad and frantic
than those to come.
No one homeless. No one alone.
Jet Packs – oooh. Space stations – ahhh.
Deserts were farms. Dark robots picked the fruit.

The Mick was there I saw him. Amid the supercars, The Kennedys
w/o Jack (for the darkness did just dawn) We ooohed and ahhhed
zipping on the monorail carrying
our radiated nickels and dimes.
Or were they pennies? I forgot the poor.

We explored the mysteries of a woman’s mind.
Wisconsin cheese! 3D led to 4G. Five.
They say we don’t need six.

We ooohed and ahhhed and became.

Mike Jurkovic has a new full length collection, Blue Fan Whirring, (Nirala Press, 2018) Anthologies: Reflecting Pool: Poets & the Creative Process, WaterWrites: A Hudson River Anthology, and Riverine: Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers (Codhill Press, 2018, 2009, 2007) President, Calling All Poets, New Paltz, Beacon, and Ellenville, NY. Music features, interviews, and CD reviews appear in All About Jazz, Van Wyck Gazette, and Maverick Chronicles 2018. He has featured in London, San Francisco, NYC, Albany, and throughout the tri-state area. He is the Tuesday night host of Jazz Sanctuary, WOOC 105.3 FM, Troy. He loves Emily most of all. www.mikejurkovic.com www.callingallpoets.net