GOOD NEWS

50,000 jobs lost this summer
the radio announcer says
in his best, politiest voice
– he knows what he’s told to speak
“The Canadian economy’s doing well”
he adds, “15,000 jobs were added this summer”
Well I guess they don’t do simple
arithmetic in radio
but I can, I took it in
elementary school, and to me it seems there is a problem
Mr. Radio said it was good news
but I find it very sad
that my favourite record store
has left town, that is it used
to be a record store before
CDs came in
But it is no wonder the news
is not all it’s trumped up to be –
when all our work has to be
done out of the country
in countries where there
are no rules about pollution
and human labor
And when our newscasters
are forced to tell us
mind-altering “facts”
that don’t make sense at all
because if they don’t
they will soon join the 60,000
and so far as I can tell, it’s only September 5th,
Summer’s not nearly over