Cueless

Nowadays I don't watch television
because I dislike what is broadcast
being practically infinite and on tap.  

What mainstream media that I enjoy
I enjoy as part of my daily digital diet.

It is up to me to be careful about what cues that I follow. 

The emails, the radio and podcasts
that I listen to, the messages, the music
and the photos that I take, well processed.

But I remember the life I had
when dad got his first television,
and for two decades after.
I recall how his favourite channels
were the channels also favoured
in the bars that he frequented
when he was with his mates
and not with his family. 

It was as if his taste
required the addition of alcohol
to make it entertaining
and as the head of the house
he made sure he was the only one
allowed to drink that much.

He made sure only he among us
could pay to be that far off his rocker
and still be deferred to
by those, who for having to be sober,
were not entitled to the choice
of an opinion on the effects of alcohol.