A lot of my poems are inspired by things that happen in my own life. I wrote this one while my wife was watching a football game with her sister and brother-in-law, and I was in the other room working on a poem. As they cheered at the TV, it made me think about how different people in the same family often want to watch completely different things.
That reminded me that many families wait until Christmas to make big purchases—like a brand-new TV—and that sometimes, instead of bringing everyone together, it can create a whole new set of arguments. Football? Parades? Christmas cartoons? A holiday movie? Everyone has a favorite.
I started wondering what might happen if nobody could agree on what to watch on their shiny new television. That little idea was enough to spark this poem.
Our Brand-New TV
For Christmas, our gift was a brand-new TV.
We couldn’t agree, though, on what we should see.
My sister said, “We should all watch the parade.”
Our dad said, “The football game’s on, I’m afraid.”
My brother said, “Let’s watch a Christmas cartoon!”
Our mom said, “A good movie’s starting at noon.”
We squabbled and fought over what we should see
for hours and hours but couldn’t agree.
And meanwhile, our dog, who did not get a vote,
just sat down and chewed up the TV remote.
The TV’s now stuck from the way that he chewed.
It only shows squirrels and close-ups of food.
And, strangely, we all liked his channel much better.
It turns out our dog is a great TV setter.
— Kenn Nesbitt
