Bombarded by the news,
by tweets and updates.
on blood and bombs.
from Nice and Paris,
from Baghdad and Aleppo;
on poverty and sport,
paid by clicks for
dating Russian women.
It’s not from lack from facts
but being overwhelmed
I’m the blinded deer
frozen, beamed by head-
lights of approaching cars.
Should I go left or right?
Vote, or ditch it all?
Or stay and being roadkill
d/numbed by news?
Skull by Albrecht Dürer
Brendan asks us to write about news at toads. An excellent history that makes me wonder if it’s really any longer about fake of facts…
—
May 20, 2017
There’s a weird inverse proportion to the news that the more we are assaulted by it, the less empowered we become in the form of a response. And what is a culture that is mostly roadkill, frozen in place while the real shit descends? indeedy.
I like how you connect all of this to a personal choice. But do most people even want the truth? Or, eerily, do they prefer to be lied to? That for me is the real terror.
I love how you connected this to Hamlet with the hanging head/lights and that picture.
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/hamlet/page_288.html
These are my favorites parts:
“paid by clicks for
dating Russian women” … Because it’s surprising.
“d/numbed by news” … Because it makes me think of De but also because I see “denim” hiding inside. So then the line becomes “denim bed by news” … which makes me think of getting your news in bed with someone wearing denim … in other words, via a casual conversation with your lover or something.
Also, I love the idea of being de-numbed … un-numbed … by the news. Letting it actually sink in and mean something to you.
Also, in the title, I see “road-cool,” which makes me think of a fun road trip that yeah may involve some death along the way, but as long as there’s music … and sunglasses, I guess. “Cool” might also have something to do with the temperature of the road … not hot, not cold, but cool. There’s a parallel between this and our attitude toward the world and the news. Caring from a distance, with a safe zone around us.
Also, I can’t read “Baghdad” without seeing “bag Dad,” which is messed up, but true. Sorry. That’s what’s the worst about the news/current events … kids being hurt.
Then there’s the effective juxtaposition of poverty, sports, sex, and horror/bloodshed. It is all slammed together when you watch/read the news. It certainly makes sense to be overwhelmed and frozen.
Thought-provoking poem, obviously.
I’m coming to the conclusion that tuning into another frequency on the radio is the only way now.
I was struck most by “Bombarded by the news, by tweets and updates.”
In reality, with social media and new apps coming out all the time, anyone can be a news reporter. I started thinking about all the times when I’d learned of something big that happened in the world through social media before I read it from any news agency. And all these untrained “reporters” have their own agenda, and no one to answer to on whether they checked their facts or reported both sides of an issue.
Bombarded by the news we are, to the point where we almost become immune to the horrors of our world. And I agree we are being dumbed down in how much of the news is presented. What I hate the most is the live updates on ‘breaking news’ items, what voyeurs we have become.
Anna :o]
Great poem. As illustrated by United Sates’ “news”. The same “news” in different state sounds so different.
An interesting opening line, Björn, that prepares the reader for what is to follow while reflecting how most people feel about the news, which you describe so well in the following stanzas.
WONDERFUL poem, Björn. I think you speak for millions of fellow deer who have been “beamed” by the headlights of headline news.
That is how the news affects me these days too. It is unbelievable.
Very hard to make that choice some days–and some days, we can;t seem to remember we have the power to turn the news off–it has a life of its own. At what point do we change from blindness to roadkill?
We are all “road kill” now!
It does feel overwhelming at times. I recognise that deer.
At least the US president is being preoccupied for a day or two. Not sure if he has twitter access.
Oh, I know this feeling. We hear/see so much and the weight of it crushes the spirit.
When you are feeling is exactly how I’m feeling as well.
Watch this…it fits to your message.
So easy, to let ourselves, to become roadkill, by doing nothing. Think, the hardest part of being an informed citizen is to shift through, the lies and find the real nuggets of truth, buried deep, in the following manure, we call news.
Which way to go; what to do? Well done on beautifying the confusion/ information overload we live with.
bombarded and d/numbed. That is it in a nutshell. You are afraid if you do not listen you might miss something important. But, if you do listen, you want to shut it all out.