Television


The compelling news of today involved misdemeanours
So few hours and so much harm
These most efficient of human endeavours
Stream into the heads of innocent bystanders
Television is at best a deficient witness
There is no scale
There is no depth
There is no composition
There is no retrospection
Violation cannot translate into a panorama
The epicenter is not damage but fear unseen
Senses paralyse when the knives are drawn
The elect takes stock after the detonations
Cocooned in slick habits of protocols
Talking off heads for the zooming lens
Running door to door chewing stimorols

Rome, 6 December 2005