The 6.00 News on a Barroom Wall

by John Grey

The news is all wars and famines,
natural disasters and mass shootings.
No one I know is involved.
There’s no way to take it personally.

There is no clip of Anna
stuffing all of my clothes in a suitcase,
tossing it out of a second story window.

No one’s live on the spot outside the bar
where I am head down in my fifth beer.

Tanks roll, bellies swell,
hurricanes blow and a factory floor
is decorated with yellow police tape.

The real world goes unreported.
Stuff happens but the film of it doesn’t exist.