By Drew Adamek
Cameras off
and the world goes mad.
Producer’s notes fly
to action team headquarters.
Headlines scream,
This, and This Only:
All of Your Attention.
An excitable alcoholic,
six weeks on the wagon and
two weeks away from cancer,
earns his pay:
denigrating, pontificating, suffering, shouting,
pulling those fucking ratings up ten thousand households at a time.
Cameras off
and the crew goes home.
We’ve told the story
the way we were taught;
leading with blood,
leaving out the truth
at the heart of the matter.
I made a woman cry once,
prying out the murder
of her only daughter.
It was a great shot
and only took one take.
Cameras off
and a star is born.
It’s a vicious,
empty cycle.
The bottomless space between commercials
is so very carnivorous.
We feed
so we don’t starve.
Cameras off.
One more person dies.
Hopefully,
tomorrow will be a slow news day.
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on November 12, 2010