What's The Mad? 2 Poem by Jetty J Newnham

It’s always there, always haunting
Always at the corner, in the front.

The MAD tells us what we need
and how to live our lives.
It tells us the MAD truth,
Never the real truth.

The MAD consumes our lives with its cunningness
It tells us what to smell, how to dress
The MAD is the slime
From Frank Zappa’s TV set*

Politicians love the MAD, it helps them spread lies,
Priests and Bishops, Monks and Popes
Live and breathe the MAD.

Abuses and cruelty
In riches with Wonga, the Church denies
And now the MAD accuses and abuses.
The MAD then slowly lifts its hand and sheep-like
Humours me.

But, I’m so humble says the MAD
Just look at my bank account, you see I worship god!
I only shut down those jobs to make money,
Making more efficient.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world.
That’s what my god tells me!

Hideous obesity in the west,
More hideous.
The starving, dying children of parents whose crops can’t grow.

But the MAD shades your eyes
Whilst you eat your happy meal, in your happy car*,
Whilst the MAD continues to destroy, exploit,
Pulls down rain forests to graze more meat!

But you can’t watch the news on TV,
Because your conscience cries and your guilt multiplies.
But the MAD wipes your eyes.

But you’re so lucky to be born at such a time,
You can have anything you want at the push of a button
You can watch wars on TV, highly desensitised, truly sanitised.

Missiles observe the highway code, as they head towards their destination.
£100 billion for our mutually assured destruction!

If only once people were to stop, take a breath and realised,
The lies were taught to memorise, internalise.

It wasn’t 1984 we should have feared,
It’s Brave New World and that’s here.

But, you’re in the MAD your sanity cries.
You wish words could be bullets to destroy lies!
Wealth is obscene whilst poverty exists,
Is it any wonder people raise their fists?

*”I’m The Slime”, Frank Zappa’s, Overnight Sensation.
* Tricky Coalition West knowle boy