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factual or fake
terse or sensationalist
trying to be as objective as possible
shamelessly partisan and polemic

or simply hate speech
esoteric remedies for all problems
cat videos and personal snapshots
on asocial networks

whether we believe it or not
it is difficult to avoid it
in our great age
of real-time digital information

the abundance of unreliables
is almost legendary    
     like hearsay in the Middle Ages
     when wandering minstrels
     spread the tidings
        more or less

a challenge to all people with brains
not yet oversaturated with daily trivia

to decide what to believe

doublecheck

do follow-ups
Carl D'Souza Aug 2019
Do I need wisdom
to understand
how to achieve
my joy and happiness?
Yes I do.

Is my wisdom
my truth
based on the evidence of my experience?
Yes it is.

Therefore,
do I need to discover truth
to achieve wisdom
and joy and happiness?
Yes I do.

Does fake-news
lead me
away from truth,
away from wisdom,
and away from my joy and happiness?
Yes it does!
WritinginStars Aug 2019
Headlines filled with heartbreaking news,
Full of fear from seeing all there is to lose.
Innocent people losing their lives every day,
Mind becoming numb, running out of prayers to say.

Leaders of our country not protecting its people,
Stop turning a blind eye to the source of all this evil.
Caring more about guns than the safety of loved ones,
Sick of witnessing what this country has become.

Policies are rejected, the crisis is neglected,
Our right to live remains vastly unprotected.
An issue much bigger than opposing political sides,
The time is now, time to fight for our lives.
Dominique Jul 2019
Yank the headlines,
They're just vintage tape disguised;
Force the months to run to you,
Unspool like tired ribbons in your cupped palms.

Be generous with the scissors,
Rip apart the snippets that candy the truth,
Commit glamour-shot genocide to avoid
That little green glint of jealousy in your eye-

It's a useless emotion, and time will fly
Quicker without it nipping your ankles-

But pull them, beat their crawl into a sprint
And if they won't come,
Commission extra strength from the wind

Until you're gurgling ink and it's everywhere,
Political names that mean less to you now
Heaving their last breaths on your fingertips
Like tired wasps drowned in honey.

Pull until Doomsday is splattered across your window
And the fruit is rotting in its bowl
And the frenzied radio is yelling
Like a banshee the slogan
That puts a layer of ice into your liver-

History repeats itself
And the blood runs like a river.
not/the/news
Malia Jul 2019
Here’s our breaking news:
A church shooting
Bullet holes in pews.

Here it is; news of the day
Down in Texas
A hurricane.

The more I watch
The more my hopes
Unravel
Like weathered ropes.
he's in the news
practically every day
for the things he'll
unthinkingly say

often he's seen signing
a managerial piece of paper
which is very important
in its draper

the heads of other
nations
aren't fond of his
aggravations

the word great tumbles
out of his gob
within every sentence
that word he'll lob

when he finally
moves off the stage
will it be filled by
another of his gauge
ZWS Jul 2019
Let me tell you a story that’s told, a place that’s dark and filled with brimstone
A place that can feel hot or cold, a place where brightness can unfold
Where men abroad are worn thin, some seem to think about little else, but skin
And as they walk their walk and talk their talk what they truly want passes like a gust of wind
The body and mind are acutely fixed, they lose their footing, they’re crossed and tricked
Head strong yet clumsy, tempered like an iron bar, these men will tell you what they think from afar
No real who’s, what’s, where’s or know how, their tongue trebles, it declares, without care or clarity, it cracks like a snare
Preaching strong and wide and broad like the big churches of St. Sinclair singing songs throughout outdated speakers, oh god
The opinions of shepherds are often the rumors of sheep, trapped in gossip like the bonds of viral news excused for tweets
They wear it on their arms and nationalize their pride all while being humble, they claim, but knows not who it harms
They make a point to point fingers for points overwhelmed with the poignant denial they pass off as practical
Cracking irony with their minds white washed from the wash and their thumbs I mistake for calloused ******
This human condition we oft’ know well, is dying right under our nose
Medicine won’t help those who are only concerned with what happens above or below
Nuha Fariha Jun 2019
To Mr Arnav Gupta,
Forgive me bhai, your embers are still
fanned alive in my memories you are
still walking in circles in Ellipse Park

Dear Mr Gupta,
Do you know what distance a flame can travel on a summer day?
How far the flame travels in the camera frame, how long it keeps?
Your flame ephemeral everlasting still walking still wake
Purians pyres that covered brown bodies in 1687

Dear Arnav,
Do you remember when Sita sat in her Agni Praskar in Ramayana?
How women still throw themselves in their husband’s funeral?
What were you trying to purify through the seven flames?
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