Nightly news ends the day, 
high-definition Technicolor sending its shadow 
into the night. 
 
Beyond sleep, in dreary dreams, unforgettable atrocities live on. 
 
You can change channels by remote control to  
a different perspective on the same scenes of violence,  
hatred and heartbreak. 
 
Death defies even the most optimistic insight. 
 
Politics play out in accustomed inferiority. 
A stance is only a stance when symptoms 
become less obvious than the solution. 
 
Ideology counters idealism. 
 
The ever-present conflict and  
humanitarian efforts dammed by inaction. 
Nothing changes, if ever. It only grows worse. 
 
Internationally. Nationally. And locally. 
 
Few prospects for peace, one month in, 
events of the days accelerate. 
How hopeless are we? How hapless? 
 
Each of us; all of us know the cause and effect. 
 
The news reports bring it all home, into  
our comfortable bedrooms. 
How can we sleep? 
 

© 2023 j.g. lewis