Where is My Virtual Father? (i.m. DHW) My dead father’s alive in cyberspace thanks to YouTube. His video slide show soundtrack is played by himself on piano thanks to a recording made at our place years ago. He’s playing “Hymn to Freedom”, by Oscar Peterson, a jazz anthem. A boozy party can be heard below his trilling treble and thumping bass. Glasses clink, a woman laughs, as he plays and someone says: “Don’t stop now”. This request by an unknown acquaintance predicts his perpetual performance. What will happen to my virtual dad memorialised for eternity in snapshots and low fidelity…
Poems
Pippa Kay: ‘Windows on a Laneway’, ‘Where is My Virtual Father?’ and Recycling’
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