The Only Useful Thing I Learned - April 27 2023

 

The Only Useful Thing I Learned

April 27 2023

In middle school, I took typing.

Which is all I remember

from junior high,

the only useful thing I learned.

Not touch, exactly,

and I still cheat;

sneaking a glance at my fingers

on the virtual keyboard

of the digital device

I write on now.

I can clearly recall

that heavy steel behemoth,

permanently planted

on my small wooden desk

like a slab of solid granite.

Built to last,

and beautiful

in the way only mechanical things are;

an ingenious machine

with thousands of intricately milled parts

working precisely together.

There was the clatter of the strikers.

The plangent ding

at the end of a line.

And the soft ratcheting sound

of the carriage return

as the platen precisely advanced.

And a machine with character.

The font

as unique as a fingerprint —

all the a's

a touch above the line,

the p's

missing their stems.

While the keys

are anywhere between

so hard to depress

your hand soon tires,

and so light

your racing fingers stumble.

Writing letter-by-letter

in real time.

Every errant key and typo

preserved on the page

for posterity.

And completed

a piece of paper

with fresh black ink

you can fold, mail, file.

Hand sign

with the fancy signature

you practiced as a child.

Bury in a time capsule.

Or crush into a ball

and free-throw into the trash.