This is what it’s like: The music never stops, Louder, Faster, Quieter, Slower, Constant. You can pull the plug, But you risk breaking the machine, Which is already Broken It skips The volume The speed The needle jumps Off track Broken.. The only control Is to risk damaging A broken device. But it's yours The only music The only source The only sound It's yours and you make it work Because you want to Because you have to Because You have no choice. And you get tired Tired of the chore Of working with Of dealing with Putting up with Such a flawed mechanism. Then Someone Hears it too And wants to learn To live with it Together And the music never stops And the needle skips And the loud And the quiet And loud Become background noise As you sit together And listen And love The reliable unpredictability Of the machine And of life.