WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE ABOUT TODAY’S 24/7 INFORMATION GLUT?
Here’s one reaction to today’s 24/7 news and information world.
This last week has been a very traumatic week for many Americans.
With the horrible killings of the two black men in Minnesota and
Louisiana, then the devastating deaths of the police officers in Dallas, no
wonder the American president interrupted his attendance of the NATO Summit in Europe to comment on the
devastating events back home.
As a follower and writer of our nation’s politics, I have been
both depressed and moved by the responses to these recent events.
The reaction of most Americans has been somewhat gratifying, as
instead of anger and scorn, most people have been very thoughtful and many have
offered prayers and comfort for those families that lost their loved ones.
But I was thinking that with what is going on in the nation today, it is very
different from what most Americans have had to deal with in the past.
Is this just another fact of today’s 24/7 world of instant
information and news coverage?
Whether it’s the recent killings by a disturbed individual, or
devastating weather where tornados have leveled small towns in middle America,
or those rain ravaged states so flooded, you saw burning houses
floating down a swollen river. Yes, it’s all there for us to gasp at,
try to hide from, or watch in wonder.
But, is this kind of information overload becoming just too much
to actually and thoroughly absorb?
Yes, I have literally stopped at times to ask myself that exact
question.
Well, as sometimes happens with perfect timing, I just received
out of the blue, an item from a long-time friend that shows that I am not alone
in my asking that kind of philosophical question.
My friend, who is today an accomplished artist, writer, a true
poet laureate, and who just happens to have been a former close associated of
the late, Rodney Marvin "Rod" McKuen.
If you’re a Boomer, you might remember “Rod”, as a
famous American singer-songwriter, musician, actor and poet. In the
1960’s, Rod was one of the best-known poets and singer-songwriters in America.
I believe that my friend’s close association with such an
accomplished individual, was just one of the relationships that sparked that
same creativity within my friend. Over these latest years, my friend has
continued as painter, a writer and to publish his prose. A prose that will spark those feelings
that we sometimes forget are there in the back of our mind.
So, what I have for you today, is the latest item that I recently
received from my friend that I am now going to share with you.
This latest poem really hit home for me, and it scores high on
what seems to be happening to many of us in today’s world of constant and instant information.
I would suggest you read this poem and think of how you too,
sometimes have these same feelings about our weekends here in America:
Saturday In America
Used to be you could sleep in,
worry free, unless there was a car show,
antique fair or garage sale you wanted to check out.
You might wash the car or mow the
lawn if the work week didn’t leave you
too drained. Your choice.
Might make a quick run to the store for
hot dogs and buns for an impromptu
BBQ with the neighbors.
But today, you worry about who’s
running the
country and if they have a clue.
Letters to congress
only resulted in a few more stamps
sold
at the post office.”
Your backyard squirrels
even seem skittish.
You fear that the new strangers two streets over
might be packing heat or could burn
your house down with their unscheduled, illegal fireworks.
The freshly appointed boss at the office conveys little
confidence.
Even employees in your department are complaining about the
national debt
and fear they can’t send their kids to college or meet the
mortgage.
All of us, are wondering how we lost the
sanctity of Saturday in America. We do miss it.
No one seems to know how it disappeared,
where it went or even how to get it back.
We’re so dangerously adrift, we’re
too afraid to even think about
our fragile Sundays.....
Copyright
Allen Weitzel 2016
Couldn’t have demonstrated today’s dilemma any better.
Thank you to
my good friend, and FYI this poem will be featured in the upcoming December 2016 E-book
of poems: Shadows In My Eyes.
Copyright G.Ater 2016
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