I praise you The Apprentice
for letting me pretend I would remain
cool under the hot boardroom lights
that tan the faces of dead presidents.
I praise you Dora the Explorer
for teaching my son Spanish
and giving him a wider view than
the one he has from inside this tiny buckle.
I praise you Ellen
for proving to the world that some lesbians
are smart and funny and have fashion sense
outside of flannel shirts, wife beaters, and mullets.
I praise you Inside the Actors’ Studio
for indulging me with snips of insight
like Meryl Streep’s favorite curse word
or the job Martin Scorsese would least like doing.
I praise you Six Feet Under
for reminding me of how unexpected life will turn
with those first two minute glimpses
into the deaths of people I don’t know.
I praise you The Wire
for showing me how to both
tap a phone line
and shoot up heroine.
These are my shows in alphabetical order.
The ones I watch when I want to escape
the monotonous cliché of my own storyline.
for letting me pretend I would remain
cool under the hot boardroom lights
that tan the faces of dead presidents.
I praise you Dora the Explorer
for teaching my son Spanish
and giving him a wider view than
the one he has from inside this tiny buckle.
I praise you Ellen
for proving to the world that some lesbians
are smart and funny and have fashion sense
outside of flannel shirts, wife beaters, and mullets.
I praise you Inside the Actors’ Studio
for indulging me with snips of insight
like Meryl Streep’s favorite curse word
or the job Martin Scorsese would least like doing.
I praise you Six Feet Under
for reminding me of how unexpected life will turn
with those first two minute glimpses
into the deaths of people I don’t know.
I praise you The Wire
for showing me how to both
tap a phone line
and shoot up heroine.
These are my shows in alphabetical order.
The ones I watch when I want to escape
the monotonous cliché of my own storyline.
