election looming
gloomers dooming
opposing politicians
creating divisions
outrageous claims
blaming games
alternative facts
gaslighting distracts
television news
truth skews
changing channel
different angle
reality distorted
lies reported
fake news
abusers abuse
optimism fading
dreams jading
reality TV
hijacked thee
Spitting Image
A TV puppet show
From England
Caricatures of real people
With features wildly exaggerated
And behaviors so cruelly mimicked
Obviously fake
But strangely more real
Than the real fake people it portrays
We live in a world
Of fake politicians
Bleating and tweeting
More focussed on their ratings
Than their role of governing
Spitting Image has become so popular
That fake politicians demand to be in it
To be the puppeteer
For their own puppet
To spit inside their own image
Forget your version of reality
Its so passé
Nobody believes in truth and honesty anymore
Thats just old school
Who is to say what is right or wrong
When leaders deny truth often enough
People will believe their fake version
Leave the real world behind
Live in the real fake world of
Spitting Image
Smoke on the water
Fires in the Canadian sky
Smoke on the water
I can smell burning
Smoke on the water
They say the air is bad
Smoke on the water
Not safe to exercise outside
Smoke on the water
My throat is irritated
Smoke on the water
Stay inside and watch TV
Smoke on the water
The news is all smokey
Smoke on the water
Its all fake smoke news
Smoke on the water
Or is it smake folk news
Smoke on the water
Political smokescreen
Smoke on the water
Global warming publicity stunt
Smoke on the water
Too smokey to see the mirrors
Smoke on the water
Perfect conditions for Chinese balloons
Smoke on the water
Fake weather balloon spying smoke generators
John was something of a rebel in his youth, always challenging things
not blindly agreeing to everything he heard and he was constantly searching for answers
he made an effort to think for himself
holding strong views on many things but willing to listen and learn
as he got older he settled down raising a family and working hard at his job
thinking for himself became a tiring task
without realizing it, he allowed others to do his thinking for him
he only listened to one radio station and watched one TV channel
all his books went unread and he rarely listened to music anymore
John allowed others to inject their thoughts into him
broadcasting and social media became the dirty needles for his news addiction
social media closely tracked John’s browsing habits
adjusting his news feed like the pusher who mixes a cocktail of drugs for a junkie
john happily ate all the words prepared by the media dietitians
he would repeat the same digested words during conversations
his circle of friends dwindled to a few just like him
he only went to bars that had TVs tuned to his favorite channel
politicians who hijack people’s thoughts loved John and those like him
they could easily collect votes without having any real policies or credible manifestos
one day, John collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital
he had suffered a massive stroke and his recovery was long and slow
throughout rehab he was totally disconnected from all news media
therapy sessions slowly taught him to speak and walk again
his right side was partly paralyzed and he learned to type with his left hand
the therapist gave him writing tasks and he kept a journal of his recovery
it was exhausting to type even a short sentence at first but John persevered
John’s mind slowly began to wake up again
he started reading books and magazines and progressed to writing short stories
after a very long rehab period, John went home but he did not turn on the TV
he stopped using social media but he read extensively and wrote every day
his first book was an autobiography
John became a successful author
the politicians who hijack people’s thoughts don’t like John anymore
Cheeky Monkey Poetry 