WATCHING THE TELEVISION WATCH BACK

WATCHING THE TELEVISION WATCH BACK
by Casey Bush
NASCAR race sponsored by the NRA
Car crashes into the stands
And spectators defend themselves
Dashboard riddled with bullets
Only to find copulating teenagers
Wrapped in sheets soiled by blood and oil
In need of a morning after pill
Or clothes hanger abortion
A laugh from the livingroom
Makes me imagine a long line of relatives
Bringing timeless drama to their lives
Offering an apple to a snake
Searching for narrative structure
Modern lives based on Biblical stories
Repeated endlessly over the nightly news
Too old to remember
Too familiar to forget
Stone path in the garden hiding footprints
Same story on every station every day
Tucked between seductive advertisements
Flat screen reflection of my own image
Picking up pieces of a broken economy
Got a bad case of the Trotskies
Ten days that shook my world
Mistakenly burned the American flag
When intending to only char broil
Turned the television camera around
Like an owl’s head searching for mice
Keep an eye on what’s coming from behind
More mushrooms for the Munchkins.