Did you see the news?

An original poem.

“We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.”

- John Berger (Ways of Seeing)

A poem I wrote on my birthday last month that says everything I need to say about these times:

Tell me, 
Did you see the news?
Which version of truth?
Whose story did you believe?
What did they tell you to think?
Did you question the agenda,
Behind the narrative - 
Of the corporates who own
“The Truth”?
Do you know who's profiting here? 
What about the billionaires?
The ones we hero worship as a culture? 
Dictators are the easiest puppeteers 
To blame as evil, those bad bad men,
But war criminals are more often dressed in suits, 
In White Houses.
Did you believe the government’s lies?
The ones that deny blatant genocide?
It’s being live-streamed now, 
And Big Tech couldn’t censor 
The bombs, or the blood -
We all saw it, we’re all seeing it,
In present tense.
Only, perhaps videos on our phones 
Of dogs and influencers are a better distraction - 
John Berger said 
“We only see what we look at” 
Tell me, are you looking?
Tell me, are you prepared to see truth? 
Tell me, are your eyes open?
Tell me, did you see the news? 

Photo by Ajeet Mestry on Unsplash.

Thank you for reading me.