Meat Mallet

Burning edifices so familiar, as if in nostalgic dream,

Those towering buildings of glass and steel pristine,

God, they were so beautiful; invincible, they seemed –

Now sullied with thousands, thousands of broken screams.

There’s smoke and fire on the news again.

Through cable and wire I hear suited men

Speaking rapidly of losing lives; losing closest friends;

Mouthing vapidly words quite alive; words of gruesome ends.

Professionalism, they call it – not a tear shed,

Not a single emotion behind the words read –

They babble on about statistics with marshals counting heads,

They show us pictures of our city burning red.

Show us more, more images of the destroyed.

Our deep horror and sadness keeps you employed.

Give us your news, your journalistic ploys –

Our impressionable minds are your child’s toys.

But you’ve realized this already, haven’t you?

It goes to show that through your programs on the tube

Idle minds make such good cooking pots – true;

And we so willingly give them to you to use.

I enjoyed so much your interesting report

On how an athlete broke his coccyx in his sport;

People change, thus ratings change, so keep the ball in your court:

People change their sympathies, so change, too, in retort.

Now I’m sitting here before the TV with my face in a twist:

There’s a finger in a cup of chili – is there something vital that I missed?

Come up with something new to keep yourself on the list –

No one gives half a damn if a small-town mother gets pissed.

Now along comes this massive, horrible tragedy.

Shed a tear for the lost – now consider strategy:

People now mourn, expecting a mass eulogy –

There’s your window, seize the moment ‘fore it loses energy:

Let the people languish in the profound pain

If only until there’s someone sketchy you can find to blame.

And when you find your scapegoats, let fall the brazen rain

Destroy them in our minds; put them all to shame.

One hell of a good story goes a long way –

But every story loses its novelty, they say,

In this case, it’s been good quite a few days;

Enough people have been compromised for sufficient pay.

But it’s looking good for you, because now, gentlemen, we have a war!

The very blessing of a juicy story you’ve been asking for.

Show us the bombs; show us the death; show us the poor –

We are fools for pity of the dead – your ratings, I swear, will soar.

Shock, awe, and fear – it’s worked for you so many times;

Given you your sustenance: our tender hearts and juicy minds;

Prepared rare with your tragic meat mallet of powerful kind –

We melt with your beautifully prepared, scripted lines:

Burning edifices so familiar, as if in nostalgic dream,

Those towering buildings of glass and steel pristine,

God, they were so beautiful; invincible, they seemed –

Now sullied with thousands, thousands of broken screams…

Now drop your professionalism – people need sympathy.

Show your sad faces; leave home your normal apathy.

Something big is happening – seize it with rapacity;

Make the people feel consoled to your fullest capacity.