Cheryl Has Wed

By luigi_pagano

Tue, 15 Jul 2014
  • 1780 reads
6 comments
 

I can’t go to sleep and sit up in bed.
I pick up a paper: it is a red top;
the headlines scream that Cheryl has wed.
There’s no mention of the Middle East,
that over there there’s total chaos,
that dissidents in Iraq cause turmoil,
that the Afghans held elections but can't decide
who of the candidates will be the boss.
That, in Mosul, the jihadists got the oil;
that between Gaza and Israel there’s tension,
rockets are fired, air attacks are launched,
but of talking peace they have no intention.
There’s trouble too in Lebanon and Syria,
where civilians are killed and refugees suffer.
If we ignore all this, it will be at our peril.
I am mystified and scratch my head
and ask myself: who the hell is Cheryl?

© Luigi Pagano 2014

Certificate U
Poem
Mutevoli pensieri
Rant
Opinion

Comments

Submitted by Bee on

The ending made me laugh; that's your great sense of ironic humour holding out in the face of  a world of adversity, which you covered so cuttingly in your poem. I often think the same when I read trivial headlines, but then, I guess we sometimes need something less traumatic to think about for a change. The world may be in a state of total collapse, but hey - great news about Cheryl!

Great poem, Luigi.

Bee

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

It is that 'world exclusive' label that sent me hopping mad to the keyboard to compose this rant, Bee. I agree with you that a light relief is sometimes required from the gloom and doom with which we are constantly surrounded. In the majority of my poems I tend to eschew lachrymose odes about lost or unrequited love or trying to find the meaning of life, which I'm told is 42, and write instead in a humorous vein. But sometimes we have to decide what constitutes a serious matter and stop using the epithet 'world exclusive' for trivial news. Here endeth my lecture.

Peace be with you, Luigi

 

Submitted by Bee on

I hope you know I agree with you, Luigi, and that my comment - shame about the world, but great news about Cheryl was my own attempt at irony.   

Bee

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Oh, I know Bee, got it in one. I may have said it before, we seem to share a sense of humour. My instinctive reaction was: bully for Cheryl!

Cheers, Luigi

 

Submitted by Denzella on

Cheryl has got married....that is wonderful news!  Now I know I  will get some sleep.  It's the thought of dear Cheryl as a spinster that has kept me from my slumbers.  I thought this was a great rant, Luigi and I hope it did you good.  I have stopped reading newspapers and rarely watch the news because it is all so depressing.  I will start reading papers again when they bring out The Good News of The World.

Moya 
 

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Dear Moya, I too have stopped buying newspapers but they are displayed on newsagents' shelves and one can't help noticing the headlines. As for the news I still watch it on the telly and though depressing I was spared the 'exclusive' about Cheryl. I seem to remember they tried a good news channel but did not take off. Is it possible to have a 'good' News of the World?

Best, Luigi