[Newspoetry] I am not infallible

[William Gillespie]

> that someone write a poem about the news and the fact that *it* runs
> stories again and again without seeming to realize it or care, and we
> retroactively run that poem on Dec 8th.  any takers?

Ten years later

The War on Terrorism has been redeclared
President Bush is amassing troops in the Persian Gulf
To attack Iraq because they invaded Ku-
Wait, that was the last one
Either the President or Vice-President
Speaks the mangled diction of a flustered fifth grader
Thrust on camera before an international audience
Such that entire (humor) books have been compiled
Of actual quotes
The Gettysburg Address now reduced to Bloopers

"A gang of thieving lobbyists"
Iran-Contra full-cast revue
Despite unreeling criminal histories
They are withered, impotent and therefore
There is no moral grounds for impeachment

Jellybeans, broccoli, pretzels:
news

Sniper, Unabomber, (Anthrax?):
fear your neighbor, fear your mail
fear your medicine
fear air

Noriega, Hussein, bin Laden:
disposable aliens, deposable allies

And somewhere overseas, but also in our streets
On our phone, in our email accounts
In the sales records of independent booksellers
Written in private documents previously considered confidential
Reading government documents previously considered public
Lurks a terrible enemy, a shroud of evil
An empire, cells, a curtain, a menace
A mirror of our collective prejudice

There's only one way out of this mess:
Elect Dukakis in 1988