The Network Poem by Atef Ayadi

I turned
The TV
On.
The first five minutes
The CNN news:
Two prostitutes
Were
Found
Decapitated
And dumped
In two separated
Bags
After being
Beating.
This I call
Peace time
Casualty.
Followed
By five minutes
Of commercial:
Drug for obese
The next five minutes
The war on freedom
In Iraq
Local news
Car bombing
Injured one USA
Soldier
And killed 19
Civilians
Most of them were
Children.
Then
Another five minutes
Of commercial
This time
Bow flex
With 30 years of
Warranty

Then the
Local weather update,
With no warning!
Popped up
With
A noisy
Warning Message
TURNADO WATCH
Affective till 9: 47 PM
In the following
Counties:
LOUISVILLE,
PARIS,
CHAMPAIGN,
And 6 other
Counties
I do not remember their names.
I hear the heavy rain and branches
Falling.
I have been
In this town
For seven years,
No tornado
Touched
Really
Down.

I switched to CNN
Still,
It is about
Denis,
It became
Type four
Hurricane
As it got
Close to Alabama.
The head
Of Alabama
Asked
His people
To leave
And drive north.
Poor Alabama,
Poor people
In Alabama.

I turned the
TV off.
I took
My bicycle
And I headed to
The closest bar.