Love Poem: The Network
Atef Ayadi Avatar
Written by: Atef Ayadi

The Network

I turned
The TV
On.
The first five minutes
The CNN news:
Two prostitutes
Were
Found 
Decapitated
And dumped 
In two separated
Bags
After being
Beating. 
This I call 
Peace time 
Casualty.
Followed 
By five minutes
Of commercial:
Drug for obese
The next five minutes
The war on freedom
In Iraq
Local news
Car bombing
Injured one USA
Soldier
And killed 19 
Civilians
Most of them were 
Children.
Then 
Another five minutes
Of commercial
This time
Bow flex
With 30 years of 
Warranty

Then the 
Local weather update
With no warning!
Popped up
With 
A noisy
Warning Message
TURNADO WATCH
Affective till 9:47 PM
In the following 
Counties:
LOUISVILLE,
PARIS,
CHAMPAIGN,
And 6 other 
Counties
I do not remember their names
I hear the heavy rain and branches
Falling
I have been
In this town
For seven years
No tornado
Touched 
Really
Down.

I switched to CNN
Still,
It is about
Denis
It became 
Type four
Hurricane
As it got
Close to Alabama
The head 
Of Alabama
Asked
His people 
To leave
And drive north.
Poor Alabama,
Poor people
In Alabama.

I turned the 
TV off.
I took 
My bicycle
And I headed to 
The closest bar