The News

The news today is not like it used to be,

but then a lot has changed, I suppose,

I was told that they used to tell nice stories

about local science fairs and newborn puppies,

or if it was an upsetting issue at least it was

issues directly affecting the local area,

every once in a while, every blue moon,

you’d hear of a kid that had gone missing,

but that wasn’t very often and the whole

community would band together then and

search the whole stretch of the east woods

to try and find the poor soul who froze to

death, and they would mourn together as

a family and neighbors would make casseroles

and they would offer condolences and for

a long time they would meet with Mrs. Susan

or Mr. Lyle and they’d talk about the days

when Jimmy or Dan used to run down the hills

without his shoes on and how they’d all holler

at him and how big his smile was and how

they couldn’t believe he was gone, but those

days are so long ago that the newest generation

can’t even recall, and the news is such a collection

of miserable, unreliable chaos now that I barely

ever even turn it on.