Picture care of Demotivational Posters
Six o’clock
Another soundbite
Time to coax the disarray—
But wait, her hair has changed
Got to run the headline
Another breakup
Too much flash, too much glam
Here’s another corpse
To rev those senses to disgust—
Don’t look, kiddies,
Not yet old enough to see the world
Not yet old enough to know
What is daily made to us
These fake smiles
Ironed suits
Pounding out the weekly notes,
Never yet to find the joy
Lurking through the day.
People don’t pay
To be happy.
* My latest contribution to the wonderful One Shot Poetry Wednesdays! Once you’ve had a look, check out some of the other One Shot Poets as well– they’re a skilled bunch of poets, looking to form a community and support one another. Enjoy!
The Waking Den 
An important message in this. We need to be aware.
The reason(s) I don’t watch.
Indeed an important message… the manufacturing of news. “People don’t pay to be happy,” the ending resonates on many levels.
“Give Us Dirty Laundry”
gotta find a story somewhere and maybe invent a few along hte way…keep the people dumb and happy at home so they dont ask the tough questions…nice one shot!
This is why I don’t watch the news anymore…too depressing. Good One Shot.
I hate TV news. I scour the internet instead, looking for truly important things. I’ve grown very tired of the right vs. left sensationalist bickering that takes up 24 hour news stations. And if it’s not that, then it’s news about some meaningless celebrity who’s done something meaningless…
Great poem. =)
You really captured how many people feel about TV news these days. Thanks for sharing. =)
Well done. Too depressing to watch, and too easy to control if we don’t stay aware.
great poem 🙂
I quit thinking children should watch news tv since they televised the entire Vietnam war on the news. I haven’t quit watching news but I choose which carriers carefully and limit my intake. I prefer finding news of the US from those outside of it; Canada and the UK often have a better take than our own press agencies. Thanks for the post. Gay @beachanny
agree with beachanny…love the CBC…and BBC…they do not even broadcast CBC here anymore and they are our neighbor….US News is always blow out of porportion…nice one shot…bkm
Happy news doesn’t boost the ratings, does it? This is why I get my news online. Great piece.
This got to my disgruntled core: It is something that can drive us to violence: we are manipulated everyday by what we are told and see. As if this is the entire truth.
This summer we had no rain for months here in the south, and I wanted to smack the weathermen/women. They smiled through the whole time….at least they could have taken some concern for my dying grass and tomatoes.
Good poem….worthy of memory.
Lady Nyo
Interesting One Shot, Chris. It reminds me of one I wrote in a similar vein: Headlines And Bylines
Politicals, news, life……incredible depiction of false faces and deceptions of a world hung up in power in greed….so much sadness & despair and sometimes I so wonder if the news can worsen things (like putting salt on a wound) ~ perhaps why I watch what I can distancing myself from some/informed in others….Excellent writing! ~April
people don’t pay to be happy…true as life…yet so sad
you hit the bull’s eye with your poem chris – excellent!
Invite you to try the prompts at Writer’s Island
this is excellent poetry
True.. very true.. happiness is usually free.. a very thought provoking poem, Chris! 🙂
My One Shot Poem – Morning Mist
You know I had wondered severally why the news is never filled with motivational and inspirational stuffs, the very essence of a better human…nice one here.
Cheers!
i liked the touch of irony. you wrote my feelings.
ahh the news, I found it so interesting that even with the heart warming story of the miners, that they ( the news) focused on marital/mistress problems of one of them… great One Shot