Mainstream Journalist’s Hell

Truth set free from the cage of reality,
truth in a new cage,
a cell where the only window is a TV:

allowed to write new stories
based only on watching themselves,
their performance beneath the world stage
while celebrities hog the spotlight
and the light of day.

The theme seems to be
how low can you slink.

Once they’ve been exposed to the story
of their own treachery
ad nauseam, unable to turn it off
to catch one wink, let alone forty,

The only story is their mea culpa:
“I prayed for a Pulitzer
and got what I deserved instead,
Because my god is an ironic god,
Who never rises to anger,
knowing anger is above me.”

Jan. 2, 2021
Alan Graham