Two minutes on the evening news
her shattered face appears
two minutes in the camera’s light
to lose all she holds so dear
Men in uniform hold microphones
their voices dry and drab
she’s just another on their list--
operator of a meth lab
Her face is haggard, streaked with tears
her arms outstretched in pain
as deputies lead her little children
to a cruiser and drive away
She did it to herself, that’s true
she craves the buzz and high
took all the money she could scrounge
but meth helped the days go by
Now those two minutes on the news
are testimony to her crime
another family lost to meth
another mother doing time
Police are proud to spread the word
that’s meth lab number fifty-two
we’ll never know that woman’s fate
she’s just two minutes on the news
2 comments:
It is a double-edged sword, this thing we call justice. It depends on who you listen to as to how far your compassion can go for the things people do to one another and the messes they inevitablly get into.
But one thing I do know for sure. Whenever I watch the news or pick up a paper, I am sure an event occured. Now, the exact nature of what took place is left to the imagination of the writer. lol
Most events that make the news would not even be there if the actual, factual truth were told. Boredom does not sell well. I hardly watch the news anymore for that exact reason. I feel like I leave knowing less than I knew when I got there. Mountains are forced up out of the ground often times where not even mole hills actually existed. But the problem is, in todays society - conducted at the speed of television - before the facts are even discovered the story is told and the damage done. Truth or not.
@ysI don't watch news now either, although I'm an NPR listener. I prefer the more in-depth analysis that presents more than one side. Local news? It's usually very sad--people doing stupid things to other people. I find it depressing and dehumanizing.
It is a given that sometimes people will do bad things. That's not news, it's just more of the same every day. It's also a given that people are capable of and often do great things. We hear about the stupid things, but not enough about the great or intriguing things.
I do not bury my head in the sand. But to hear that a woman lost her children because she made meth is just terribly sad, not news. I'd prefer to hear about how meth users are being treated, what's happening to their children and what we can do to make it better. That's news.
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