How ironic it seems
That a selfie of Jen
Has eclipsed other headlines
Of conflict again
It’s as if through a lens
Entertainment appears
To be focused on comments
By anchor and peers
Though our hungriest, game
For a laugh as may be
Under clouds and on Sky
Must disrobe for TV
Where it leads if it bleeds
All depends on the dress:
The front cover of Vogue
For a dazzling temptress
Or a reddit thread, late
Where true fans would agree
Little more than click bait
Will be all that you see
There’s a choice for the viewer
And it’s moral – how quaint!
Pick which story to follow
To see through the paint
While there’s Isis; the Syrian
Conflict goes on
And shells still fall on Gaza
All through Libya’s Dawn
Civil war slowly creeping
Through Ukraine and East
As the whole world sits, watching
Awaiting the feast
We have crackers and hackers
Stampeding both scenes
And celebrities dropping
Like the flies of their jeans
We may be quite discerning,
Pick a view to a kill
Or an intimate evening
With a very cheap thrill
When the freest of thinkers
Chooses girls in the buff
Over lifting their blinkers
To examine the rough
I’m amazed readers make it
This far through a poem
Without pictures explicit
To lighten the tone
So the best we may hope
For a future of peace
Is a world that’s too broke
To afford to release
All the weapons still stored
Under ground, as above
Though it’s MAD to assume
That when push comes to shove
Such assurances mean
There’s a soul in the flock
Still refusing the fruit
That’s created to shock
Here’s an uncivil liberty
Waiting to pounce
While the government votes
For less private accounts
Katherine Shirley 