Poem: Get the Story

The story is deep and complicated, with many facets, but the journalist is a hit-man with another victim on tomorrow's schedule.

Get the Story Faces, wounded faces everywhere steady, working, see-it-through faces with young hopes and old memories Half a century of boots, ten centuries of mostly boots Come and sum it up, sized to make it fit Fill in the blanks, paint by numbers imposed dreams, ten thousand words Journalists with four days to get the story A thousand words a century, ten a year Sound byte history, no time for more Get the building, get the picture, get it right even if it’s wrong Defenestration, what the hell is that? Where’d the body hit, get a shot of the hat-girl Havel’s seeing us at four, plane leaves at six A playwright (chuckle) well we had an actor Talk to Americans who’ve been here a while The next Hemingway, Paris, hey that’s good Get me a poet with a beard and an attitude Four McDonalds, these Czechs know the deal Free enterprise is all they need, get the shot, the lines on faces, memory of boots Havel writes in weariness and prison time Ten thousand words, get the story

This poem is included in Jim Freeman's poetry collection BROKEN PIECES available here in print or as an e-Book in your favorite formats.