The Press

Little plastic badges flashed at the door,
they roll up late and get VIP seats.
Staffers stock their bags with
carefully-compiled factsheets
and releases
destined to be plagiarized in
hastily-rendered filings

The Republicans blame the media
for something
The table snickers
Democrats urge the media
to pursue something further
The table smirks

Bald white heads gleam,
strong noses and flaccid bellies
Staffers hover, wireless adaptors hum,
agile fingers dance over keyboards
(I suspect journos make good lovers:
aggressive, focused,
Objective
But I digress)

The press are the dastardly rogues
of Congressional hearings!
Given more respect then they deserve,
treated like royalty
Their painful prose,
scoured and venerated
debated and denigrated.

Strange facial hair punctuates
the table, like a confident period at
the end of a bad sentence,
Like a deadline.

by Jackie