How headlines are created

Death is a complex subject, one a journalist must choose not to understand.

the boy, he died the night before his name

was stamped front page attached to my byline.

tonight, I write within a 10 inch frame

of how he died, so drenched in rain and wine.

 

the calls, they come in waves, and then I play

recordings of the shock and the silence.

I want to type the words ‘passes away’

but ‘dies’ is AP style and so I spend

 

my night in the newsroom, with time and luck,

the type only a journalist would want.

the facts are irreversible, enough

to send the paper boys into the night,

 

to ricochet the curves of lamppost light,

the face of this young man stained black and white.

 

Reviews

[R J Askew]

Hurrah! an bit of intelligent writing for a change ... objective and rational ... and it tells a thought-provoking story thoughtfully ... I like the How in the hl also. Strong word how, like dies.