I have to stop being eager
when I turn on the television
to see the news
hoping there will be some
and way too often
it’s too much of too little
“What do you think he’ll say?”
“studies show…”
“margin of error…”
“today’s poll of yesterday’s poll”
I guess it drives me
to expand my vocabulary
as I run to the dictionary
to narrow the range
of possibilities
inane
fatuous
insipid
vapid
jejune
and of course that popular favorite
throttlebottom
I see sitting across
from each other
the question cards facing
the answer cards
agreed beforehand
and I remember years ago
Question: “If you were ice cream,
what flavor would you be?”
Answer: “Rum Raisin.”
I know it was a comedy show
but these days
you can’t always tell
the difference.