Weekly Poem: 'To Television'

**By Robert Pinksy** Not a "window on the world" But as we call you, A box a tube Terrarium of dreams and wonders. Coffer of shades, ordained Cotillion of phosphors Or liquid crystal Homey miracle, tub Of acquiescence, vein of defiance. Your patron in the pantheon would be Hermes Raster dance, Quick one, little thief, escort Of the dying and comfort of the sick, In a blue glow my father and little sister sat Snuggled in one chair watching you Their wife and mother was sick in the head I scorned you and them as I scorned so much Now I like you best in a hotel room, Maybe minutes Before I have to face an audience: behind The doors of the armoire, box Within a box -- Tom & Jerry, or also brilliant And reassuring, Oprah Winfrey. Thank you, for I watched, I watched Sid Caesar speaking French and Japanese not Through knowledge but imagination, His quickness, and Thank You, I watched live Jackie Robinson stealing Home, the image -- O strung shell -- enduring Fleeter than light like these words we Remember in, they too winged At the helmet and ankles.   Former U.S. poet laureate "Robert Pinsky":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/entertainment/poetry/profiles/poet_pinsky.html has written many books of and about poetry, including most recently, "Selected Poems." From 1997 to 2000, he served as the United States Poet Laureate and Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. During that time, he founded the Favorite Poem Project, a program dedicated to celebrating, documenting and encouraging poetry's role in Americans' lives. Pinsky currently teaches in the M.F.A. program at Boston University and is the poetry editor of "Slate":http://www.slate.com/. Watch Jeffrey Brown's conversation with Pinsky from Friday "here":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june11/pinsky_05-20.html.