Blue Hour

Its election season

the big money is swinging

heads turning this way and that

the blue light

of TV’s flashing

blips of spin

strobing its secret

subliminal code

into living rooms

bedrooms and bars

around the world

all hours of the day and night

blurring my senses

as my bodymind entrains itself

to that strobing pulse

I come down

into nether sleep

then suddenly realize

after hours of mindless possession

that I can’t stand

the weight of the cat on my legs

one more minute

can’t stand

one more senseless observation

of the he said “she said what she said

because he said what he said

someone else said that she said”

even though the speech writers

for her fund raisers

say what she says

and she says it

stay on message

stay on message

stay on message

the reporters saying too much

about what was said

not reporting what happened

the real deal is eclipsed

vanished in partisan hyperbole

in full view, in hot studio lighting

in too much make-up

histrionic rhetoric ushers in

the blue hours of consciousness

and the part of the message

spun over and over

strobing flashes of light and sound

effectively bluing out

all natural thoughts

all questions and curiosity

till finally tossing off the cat

and turning it all off

the TV blue

the lights

the chatter

feeling numb and irritable

in desperate need

of an attitude adjustment

I go about

the dependable rituals

of bathing in candled moon light

sipping the muses mead

eating two of Santa’s cookies

making amends to the cat

praying for a wisdom

a will to intervene

that is loving and helpful in light

of our collective

self-centered stupidity

that will help us see it as worth while

to confront our own short-sightedness

amend our corruptions

and enable us to find

the resources and fortitude

to work our way through

these difficult blue times

of a strange dream

we can’t wake from

followed by the insomnia

of another long restless night

awaiting clear morning light

with its pinker yellower hues

a new day begins

let’s skip the morning news

and rejoice that there are still birds

and some milk for our coffee

as we head out

into the living room or the world

trying to focus on the tasks at hand

in a world where politicians

balk at taking a solid stand

and if they do they are marginalized

distorted, destroyed by the strobing blue 

lights till bored by lies aimed more

at leaving us annoyed and resigned

than outraged - they disappear

back into the void of forgotten history

and those left talking the talk

might as well be the one’s left running

and voting is picking

the lesser of two evils

if there is one

or the favorite darling

of the last two puppets dangling

angling with our hopes

and let’s face it

they see us as dopes,

duped and doped

that’s how we roll

that’s how we vote

if we do 

and so it goes

in these blue hours

of American history.