Headline news shows the sporting personality
bidding for national glory,
but no reports of the hate-speech practitioners
crawling across Ginza, protected by the boys in blue
Closeups of marble-skinned models
with faces created skillfully and chemically,
but the faces of children scorched beyond recognition
are too gruesome for delicate sensibilities
The nation is upliftingly charmed by the footage
of a kitten rescued from the smelly drain,
but the visual stench of shattered human remains
does not qualify for peak-time viewing
Mediocre pop singers crooning with correctness
their sounds without soul or spirit
their base message nothing more than “don’t give up”
while those with more relevance stay
in the basement bars and clubs
never exposed to a wider range of ears
We are shown success stories of those
who have made it, which means money,
and how virtuous they are painted
designed for envy and emulation by those
who need another life, because they are
already dead.
