Dead Air

		           for Vestal S.
                                
                                            by Susan Stevens

			For him momentum
			is the succession
			of cued-up sides,
			the glossy spin
			of black vinyl
			deftly slid
			from its case,
			and always on time

			he knows when he opens 
			the mike
			he can't use the words
			he wants
			digital countdown
			won't permit Roget
			his orgasm
			takes too long

			stand by
			for the first time
			ever he can't
			go on
			like this,
			slumped over the board
			with Tchaikovsky's First
			and a Schubert Trio
			cued
			and no one else
			actually standing by
			but the duffer
			at the other end
			wanting to get on