Oh, The Times Poem by Morgan Michaels

Oh, The Times



Donnie liked the Times and found it useful. For budgetary reasons, he'd stopped having it delivered, the fate of average New Yorkers everywhere Capitalism was prevalent and the yen to insure profit, a given. Such insurance demanded lots of idealism from the taxpayer, which Donnie was prepared to give. Capitalism even seemed poised to obscure the immigration issue- cheap labor in disguise- in a wash of sanctimonious palaver. But, out-sourcing, whittling the work force, inflating rents and slashing re-imbursement in no wise dampened his zeal, for he ws a Democrat. These things could kill a city, he admitted. But, he remained devoted to the squib- especially the editorial section, and continued to buy the pricey Sunday edition.

On that day, after carefully scanning the Arts section, he would pull the now-colorized folios into units and slip them into a wicker hamper dedicated to receive them. From this account he made, withdrawals, three per day. The smoothed-out sheets fit his birdcage perfectly. The cage even had a drawer that slid smoothly out to take them. Each evening, Donnie was pleased to see the pages heaped with bird guano in different stages of consolidation. He was especially pleased to see the editorial pages so covered, and as he fed it coffee, he asked the bird whether it found any particular viewpoint to its liking. The bird would cock its head and stare back, quizzically, its pupil dilating and contracting, mutter something and select a grape. Coverage of Dr. Oz got similar treatment. But even that pleasure got to be a bore, in time, and he chuckled to think how once he was afraid to share with it a cup, for fear of turning into a large, gray parrot. That fear, in time, fell away, too, though.

It was soon after he stopped having the Times delivered that.....

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success