day ONE THOUSAND and FORTY FOUR

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

It’s happy hour
and the slots at Fux news
are swilling stale beer
like it’s yesteryear
circle jerking the truth
with frothy mouths
wiping their hearts
on their sleeves
speaking media jargonese
network narratives
as they please
frolicking in tragedy
at the low bar.
They are
out of the loop
getting duped
getting blitzed
wolfing it down
scooping it up
half nuts
on their butts
pissing in our ears
with their infotain-mint breath
as they break the news
in situational ethics rooms
for boob tube rubes
watching Happy Daze
while my lodestar gently weeps.
Who says the hypnotized never lie?
The anchormen never blink
as they nurse their drinks
foxtrotting the facts
with Jumbotronic smack
schmoozing you
in the prime-time snooze
pouring six-pack serenades
of forgone concoctions
and reporting jive
from the hounded soul of America.

--Stew Jorgenson