Edison's Transformer

It was plain
a black humming box
Installed by him in 1905
A marker for his passed genius
simplicity and imagination
blended perfectly
with no thought for appearance
a reflection of him
The substation supervisor bragged of it
eighty years without a problem
only yet another coat of paint
outlasting all that followed
He praised its creator
how he came on the same train
with his crew of workmen
eating with them
getting as dirty
appearing like them
though different and alone
isolated
not belonging to those
he came from
his dreams
betraying the mind within
unable to hide in overalls