Vietnam footage
sits forgotten in closet
8 millimeter
NaPoWriMo Prompt – Our prompt for the day (optional, as always), asks you to move backwards in time away from such modern contrivances as podcasts. Today, I challenge you to write a poem that features forgotten technology. Maybe it’s a VCR, or a rotary phone. A cassette player or even a radio. If you’re looking for a potential example, check out this poem by Adam Clay, which takes its central metaphor from something that used to stoke fear in the hearts of kids typing term papers, or just trying to play a game of Oregon Trail.
Many moons ago, my mother gathered up all the old 8 millimeter movies my dad made (mostly of Christmases) and had them transferred to VHS tape. The guy that did it, set the movies to music except the Vietnam footage. He said adding music didn’t seem appropriate. My mom had copies of the tape made for all four children. Mine pretty much sat in the closet until Gretchen was reading Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai in eighth grade. I pulled the tape out; yes, we stilled had a working VCR and I recorded it to digital so she could share it with her class.
Speaking of technology, I was just enlisted to call my hubby’s phone. We are so dependent on modern day technology, we’re lost without. He is off in search of groceries and the shopping list is on the phone.
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