Month: January 2020

Momma took the paper.
She read it every day,
And as she finished sections,
She passed them on my way.
For two bits and a little time,
The world became more clear,
(On Sunday it cost a dollar,
Because so much was there).
The paper came with sections,
So that all could clearly track,
The news, the sports, and classifieds,
Separating opinion from fact.
Section A was local features,
And section B straight world news,
Section O was all opinions,
Where people sang their blues.
The funnies and the classifieds,
Everyone knew were jokes,
That car was not at all “like new”,
The fancy personals- just regular folks.

Now the papers are slowly dying,
No one reads them like before.
And the people don’t know
Anything about anywhere anymore.
What used to be a quarter,
Now costs four or five,
Or else it’s moved behind a paywall,
To keep the press alive.
And instead of clearly marked sections,
Where people can evaluate and choose,
It’s now all fiery loaded language,
Infotainment dismissed as “Fake News”.
In the void of multi-media,
Talking heads just fight and fuss,
But the absence of real reporting,
Means the joke is on us.

There is no good solution,
Unless we the people act,
Dismiss celebrity talking heads,
And demand instead pure fact.
Though editorial and opinion,
Do indeed have a place,
It should not be amongst pure news,
As facts get lost in space.
The nation and its people,
Would be better in every way,
If we all took time and place and paper,
And read it every day,
And as we finished sections,
Passed them our children’s way.