a lone man yells “fire!”
so, talking heads fill the screen,
discuss its meaning

elephant, donkey,
they crush us all underfoot,
then gather our change

every mess a war,
each bloody word a skirmish,
every smirk a stab

little miss Muffett
sat on a tuffet—they say:
in a sheer, lace dress!

statisticians claim
four in five Twitter users
live with their mothers

if they could fist fight
the brass knuckles’d be brought out,
sponsored by Pfizer

Applause-o-meter—
the TV ticker proclaims
a sudden winner

on mute, it’s all sneers—
respect a four letter word
best left to shepherds

nowhere else to look
so we stare, frozen, transfixed,
awash in bleating

it’s all red and blue,
America’s color code,
darkest camouflage