To the idling along rich
The snow moon
Was big medicine

It did not dance
And it did not sing
On television

I watched the news lady as she
Shuffled her papers
Into squares

At the press of a button
The snow moon
Came walking onto screen

They preferred the snow moon
To all the news in China

The BBC news
Maybe they lack the funds
For up to the minute broadcasts

Maybe they are holograms
From the hard drive
Of the chancellor

For a long time
I watched the news
Piling up like snow

Contributing
To brain repeats
And more cups of tea


(As vaccinations go
This left me all aglow
I spent the afternoon
Grinning like a loon

Then as the evening fell
I drooped down
Into vaccine hell
Vaccine hell

My joints ached
My bones creaked
My thoughts quaked
My speech leaked

And I had to go to bed
As if I had the flu)

So why do I watch it?
There’s a kind of sanctity
About the BBC news studio

It’s like being present
At a crematorium
As the body is sent
Gliding into the flames

To the sound
Of a grinding church organ