Now, This …

Sept 17 2011

Tomorrow’s high, seasonal.

Home team wins,

stocks closed mixed.

Tuned-in

to the usual politics

celebrity gossip,

the latest medical marvel

that will fizzle-out

next year.

The radio is on

in the background,

a liquid voice

connecting me to the outside world.

True facts,

which don’t much matter

in the larger pattern

that might actually make sense,

and leave me feeling worse

  —  even more powerless.

Wondering what gets in,

when just about everything’s

left out.

Until pretty soon

could anyone tell

if they re-played last year’s version?

An urgent loop

of human oddities

mass atrocities

news-you-can-use.

Anchors

making happy-talk.

In World War II

Lorne Greene read the news.

That’s right, the guy from Bonanza.

The “voice of doom”

he was called,

the reassuring gravity

of his deep dulcet tones,

coast-to-coast

across Canada.

Keeping up morale

on the home front,

instilling sacrifice.

Maybe it’s the common purpose

we lack.

The clear distinction

between good and evil,

the certainty

of where we stand.

Or tune-in to the music station,

easy listening, modern jazz.

The familiarity

is comforting,

keeping company

with people just like us.

Serving up

an up-beat version

of a better world,

current

informed

reassured.

Where, if nothing else

we can at least mouth the words,

tapping our toes

all the way to utopia.