RADIO

RADIO 

Radio,

Play your songs.

You've been such a kind friend

To someone like me, just trying to hold on

I like you smooth disc jockeys

And I like those Top 40 hits that you repeat,

Every four hours or so.

They make me feel awake and alive. 

I even like your commercials 

With that glossy ad man's jive.

I like your weather reports

The sunny way you look at life

Through sunny microphones

 I like your traffic reporters

That lead us safely home.

How I love you smooth disc jockeys,

And your sweet Top 40 songs.

Radio, keep playing strong.

You've been such a kind friend

To someone like me,

Just trying to hold on.

-Bruce Potts

Copyright 2026

ALL RGHTS RESERVED

ELF OR SPRITE ON MY FIERCEST NIGHT

ELF OR SPRITE ON MY FIERCEST NIGHT
                      (FOR DEBRA)

My whirling dervish of a friend,
I look for you at the rainbow's end.
Your laughter like an elf or sprite
Can chase away my fiercest night.

Stalking you so shyly,
In the hallowed halls of J.C. Penney,
At the million dollar jewelry sale,
You would broadcast there and without fail,
I would see my radio goddess with the long red hair,
Like Pippi Longstocking on a raucous tear.
Cunning I was and kept my distance,
You never felt my weighty stare.

Then when I lived in Fredericksburg,
A frustrated radio wannabe,
I'd listen to you and then Frank Mitchell,
A hybrid of both I longed to be.
I could only get you in my car,
Your show was in the afternoons,
So I drove to King George each day,
To take in that voice and the awesome tunes.
Theater of the mind it was,
As you tried out the new studio chair,
And held it up to the microphone,
To demonstrate the rolling wheels,
With such an elfish, spritely flair.

Long after Parkinson's invaded,
But when I still could work and drive,
I would catch your Girl Talk in my car,
A talk show that would raise the bar.
While visiting my love on Sundays.
A fitting end to such joyous days.
Your voice such a treasure and so sweet a thing,
That I listened sipping coffee, in the parking lot of a Burger King.

We've shared a love of Judy Collins,
Jackson Browne and others too.
Meeting you was my dream come true,
When for a short, sweet space in time,
I had the chance to work with you.

Years later I guess we're geezers,
And we've grown to be so close.
I cannot believe I speak with you,
And that every other week or so,
That magic voice comes to my phone.
That brave 'ole broad who mud wrestled the mayor.
That fixture at all the county fairs,
I cannot believe you're a call away,
Raining down joy on the darkest of days.

That Pippi Longstocking spirit,
That laughter like an elf or sprite,
That dashing Debra, darling friend,
Candlelight on my fiercest night.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2020
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED