The Microphone Speaks by Stephen Cramer

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Bob McCranie

The Microphone Speaks:

So this is how it feels
to be outdated:

watching headsets couple
with main acts every night

while I haven’t had
a date for months.

Go ahead, call me
the vestigial organ

of the music industry.
I am the myth

of the appendix.
Now, singers’ hands

are free to become birds
taking flight to the bass drum’s

pulse. It’s okay, I know
when you talk about me,

you use words like
irrelevant. Yes, I am the wing

of an earthbound ostrich.
I am the male

nipple. If I am used,
it is only as an accessory,

So, please: tie your sweaty
bandana around me.

Flourish me in flamboyant
figure eights. Brush your salty

lips against me one last time.
Remember with me

every last night
for the past 100 years

when you needed me
as much as I still need you.