One can choose
To ignore the news,
And put off until tomorrow
The sorrow
And pain.
But what is true
Will break through
Again and again.
One Can Choose To Ignore The News
4 Replies
Tag Archives: the media
Echo Chamber
On 9 May 2017, I wrote “Echo”, https://newauthoronline.com/2017/05/09/echo/. There is a pronounced tendency for we humans to consort with like-minded people and to seek out media which affirms those views we already hold.
Many live in “echo chambers” where their own views are reassuringly echoed back to them. It’s not always easy to stand back and (so far as is humanly possible) to view the whole picture.
Yet we must do so if we are to be wise and avoid the “echo chamber”.
Reality TV
The Romans threw
Christians to the lions.
True
This we no longer do,
For modern man is civilised.
Yet, it is no surprise
That there is now reality TV
Where we
Watch with glee
As the inadequate, Sad
Or quite frankly bad
Are flayed alive.
We viewers pretend not to derive
Any satisfaction
From the interaction
Of a host who weeps crocodile tears
As the audience in turn sneers
And jeers.
So we self righteously shake our head
At the living dead.
Today society is humane
For the gladiators now remain
To be pointed at in the street,
For they are no lions to eat
Them whole.
Merely their soul
Is by the entertainment industry taken,
Leaving them forsaken.
But some do tell,
There is no soul to sell
The Tabloids Say
The tabloids say
“They slunk away
As the grey
Dawn
Did warn
Of another dismal day
For old London Town”.
The clergyman does frown
And putting the newspaper down
Remarks “I see,
The papers have poets in their fee.
All I can say
Is there will be hell to pay
When she reads that, later today …
Life
Walking through the tube on my way home.
Alone
In this crowd.
Would
That I could
Be a cloud
Up above.
Yet we are all clouds
Blown hither and thither by crowds,
Trying to keep our identity in the throng
Whose song
Is “Work then home
Alone.
Perhaps a few drinks with the boys or girls
(the social whirl)
Or collapse in front of mindless television
(watching overpaid hosts
On reality TV interviewing ghosts
Who inspire derision, Not fear).
Sometimes we see it clear
But rather than confront the truth (which is difficult to do),
Instead flick through
Channels where you can shop till you drop
For the latest crop
Of gadgets (not needed before,
But once you saw
You just had to buy)
For one must be a “with it” guy.
Going to bed
Your head
Is clear for a while.
There can be no denial
That you may think
(unless your mind be muddled with drink)
Ere sleep “wraps up the ravelled sleeve of care”,
But beware
For you may dream
And all that does seem
Will be revealed for what it is, a soon forgotten soap opera in which you play
A barely noticed role then fade away.
Current Affairs
“I am a moral man” the editor said.
The weak dread
My investigations,
For my mission is to purify the nations!
My interest is the public good.
I would like to see the country free of vice
And my paper in every home, yes that would be nice!
What, you dare to ask about an editor’s private life?!
I tell you sir, I have a wife!
Working late with my secretary? what has that to do with you?!
She’s pretty, you say. Well, there’s no denying that’s true …!”
Stars In Their Eyes
A thought provoking take on the cult of celebrity, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9RunljdHow
Candy Floss
Full of air like candy floss, the world of celebrity appears puffed up with self important nothingness. Once consumed, only the discarded stick remains.
It Must Be True
It must be true, it’s here in black and white, celebrity raped by martian in the middle of the night.
It must be true, paedophiles are everywhere, innuendo and suspicion fill the air.
It must be true, immigrants are stealing are jobs, I read it in that organ of truth, The Daily Slob.
Look at that couple on reality TV, he watched while his girlfriend had sex with is best friend’s wife, but what has that got to do with my life?!
Silence is Golden
I like listening to a wide variety of music and on occasions (particularly when I am in the bath) I turn the volume up to the maximum degree possible without, of course annoying the neighbours! Despite my love of things musical I find it impossible to have music playing, however softly while writing. I find my ears concentrating on the words being sung or the beauty of the music rather than on my writing. My need for silence while working goes back to my school days. Other children could listen to music, watch television or do a whole variety of things while revising for their O and A levels, not me, I needed quiet to concentrate.
My need for quiet entails turning off my mobile, logging out of e-mail and disregarding the landline, yes I am an antisocial beast while writing! Once my concentration is broken I find it difficult to focus completely on writing again as that conversation with my mum or the e-mail from my friend is competing for attention with the story I’m composing.
I will pause while writing to make a cup of coffee or to enjoy a few moments stroking my dog, however I do not perceive these breaks as distractions, rather they help to keep the creative juices going (the coffee keeps me alert and playing with my four legged friend helps to relax me). On this basis I think that I am an antisocial coffee drinker who loves his dog, well I can think of worse things to be!
Kevin
K Morris - Poet 