I don't read the
news much anymore -
    1984 missing woman
     found in cellar of
     Father's house, been
     living there since missing
     date. Father raped repeatedly
     over past 23 years while
     she birthed at least six
     children. Three were raised
     in cellar, three by the
     grandparents.

There isn't really much
to read that's good news,
build down-hearted spirits
up, give hope to a seemingly
pointless future -
     Officer accused of
     molesting children
                 and
     receiving improper sexual
     gratification from cows
     was suspended from the
               Force.

My grandmother reminded me
once of a time when the news
stations and papers covered
small town happenings,
covered state fairs and speaking
of economic hardships were
the only shocking reports
worth reporting -
      100 murders
          were confirmed
       today in this
       city alone for the
          year thus far.

Entertainment fails
to entertain me, celebrity
gossip and scandals
absurd or redundant.
Save for the either
sickening feeling lying
dormant in the pit of my stomach
or the total lack of concern
shown, I find myself skipping
over the news nowadays -
     Paris Hilton feels
     there’s a definite
        crisis
     existing in India
     as we speak with
     elephants getting drunk
     off fermented rice liquor
     running into electrical
     fences, killing themselves
     in their drunken
     stupor and something needs to
     be done to stop their deaths.

I may not want to be a
Seahorse or high
but Devendra had the right
idea when he abandoned
this world's wily ways to
be freely happy -
     A situation developed
     in the confines of my
     mind where synapses
     fired off, repeatedly,
     thrilled with prospects
     of being this existential being,
     content, happy, satisfied,
     weirdly satisfied.