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No News Is Good News
The world contrives, in many different ways,
To overload the minutes of our days
__With items that anesthetize
__The sensibilities that filter
Our sound ideas from the out-of-kilter.
__And please try this one on for size:
I sat down in my chair to watch the news
And, after that, a few short interviews
__With partisans who genuflect
__To asses muddying the water
That permeates our wonted evening fodder.
__What else should anyone expect?
An even hand perhaps? Or just a nod
To rationality and maybe God?
__ And how about some honest talk
__Instead of systematic lying
About a nation that’s been slowly dying,
__As laws are scrubbed like blackboard chalk?
I’ve always been for freedom of the press,
But now I’m stunned by what a holy mess
__They’ve made of what the Bill of Rights
__Was meant to guarantee forever.
Have I renounced my basic faith? No, never!
__And that’s what keeps me up most nights.
.
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Aphorisms for You in Times
Such as These
Your time is clocked by sand, or not,
And sand, sometimes, is all you’ve got.
*
The bloom is off the rose, it seems,
And there go all your summer dreams.
*
Let words you speak be kind and practical—
Undue remarks are not retractable
*
If the garbage they’re spewing just doesn’t make sense,
Then go find somewhere else to surrender your pence.
*
Just take care of the hours, little elves,
And your days will take care of themselves.
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C.B. Anderson was the longtime gardener for the PBS television series, The Victory Garden. Hundreds of his poems have appeared in scores of print and electronic journals out of North America, Great Britain, Ireland, Austria, Australia and India. His collection, Mortal Soup and the Blue Yonder was published in 2013 by White Violet Press.
Cogent commentary and common sense as well-chiseled as a sculpture by Michaelangelo.
And let the world know that old geezers like us still have something important to say. BTW I’m partial to Rodin’s The Thinker.
“No News Is Good News” is a thoughtful poem that faithfully adheres to its chosen form. The last line made me think a lot.
Thinking, Geoffrey, in my opinion, is always a good thing, as long as you don’t overthink.
I like the aphorisms, especially the last two, but the best aphorism here is the first two lines of the poem. When you expand it to The News, I’m reminded of why I listen to news talk only on radio. Never have the radio on except while driving alone, and that amount of time devoted to news and commentary is quite sufficient. I agree! No news is good news.
My car radio doesn’t work anymore, Margaret, and I don’t miss it all that much.
The aphorism would seem to be the perfect vehicle for your talents and these don’t disappoint. I love the poem too and the closing stanza is an elegant summation of the predicament most of the western world finds itself in these days.
“Keep it short,” Shaun, is often the best advice, and we westerners nowadays find ourselves in all sorts of predicaments.
Let words you speak be kind and practical—
Undue remarks are not retractable.
This is a true and good reminder for us all, especially regarding the comments we make on each other’s work. After all, we’re all on the same side. But this is also true is every day life. I have nagging regrets that often were things I wish I never said.
Sometimes, Michael, the truth must be spoken, regardless of the consequences. But, yes, there have been times when something I said or wrote kept me up at night.
Great ones! I especially love the lines:
“Have I renounced my basic faith? No, never!
And that’s what keeps me up most nights.”
That about sums it up for me.
All of us, Joshua, must do the best we can under the circumstances. It’s so unlikely that God will reach down and strike our enemies dead that I don’t even pray for that to happen. Well …, maybe a stray wish now and then.
… and it feels like the sands of time just flow right through your fingers. I’d love to see more of these aphorisms. It would be wonderful if you compile enough for a book!
I crank them out as often as I can, Cheryl, but it would take a lot of them to fill a book If you can find a copy, you might enjoy La Rochefoucauld — Maxims, a Penguin Classic translated by Leonard Tancock. Also, my book Roots in the Sky, Boots on the Ground, available from Amazon, contains a good number of epigrammatic verses.
I really like “No News is Good News”, CB. An extremely enjoyable form (I assume it’s a nonce form?) with rhymes of a-a-b-c-c-b and with pentameter for lines 1, 2 and 5 and tetrameter for 3,4 and 6. This inventive form leaves the reader slightly off-kilter (much the way the news does) and effectively highlights some of these unexpectedly clever rhymes, e,g, “water” & “fodder,” “expect” & “genuflect.”
The theme of the poem is well worth pondering over. In my own life, it’s clear that my ability to get a good night’s sleep is inversely proportional to the amount of news I expose myself to.
Yes, Brian, it is a nonce form as far as I know, and you have sussed out the poem’s structure as well as can be done. One can only wonder whether the perpetrators of fraudulent journalism sleep well at night, as we do when we decline to listen to them.
I really like this creative nonce form, as well!
That’s the best thing about writing poems, Cynthia — nobody can tell you what to do, and no one gets to circumscribe your inventiveness. In other words, create new forms at will, but once you do, be true to them.
C.B., from the opening of the clever title to the relatable closing couplet, “No News Is Good News” had me nodding in full agreement all the way through and applauding this timely poem for its craft and rationale. I’m with you all the way! As for those insightful aphorisms… sadly, this one speaks to me the loudest: “The bloom is off the rose, it seems, /And there go all your summer dreams.” I think I’m in need of a stiff whisky!
I know, Susan, that our political views are syntonic, and I’m glad that you identified with that particular aphorism, which was somewhat open-ended. As for the whisky, let me recommend a dram of Mortlach or a stiff jolt of Talisker.
About the first poem — sometimes a hard-bitten pessimistic cynicism is what we need. It helps people to see things clearly.
When the vampire bats strike, Joseph, everybody feels the sting. Your clarity and my clarity are cousins.
I so agree with you, these days, about the news. I recall, way back yonder, when most of it seemed in synchrony. Now, well has the world changed, obviously. It stuns me to try to decipher the opposites of the various news channels. Your poem is a perfect representation of the disharmony in the world, which is evidenced on news channels. To me, I see it as dysfuntion caused by the electronic age, when people can present any lie to millions of people who believe anything they hear, no matter how outrageous, at times instigating violence and all kinds of indecent behaviors. Very interesting form. I particularly like the 3rd sestet, and last two lines, and the aphorisms, are delightful to ponder and relish. GK
I am extremely grateful to you for taking the time and making the effort to educate me on this vital knowledge.