Aware

Celebrity depression

makes headlines

and facebook is rife

with armchair therapists

 

While reports of the plague

that will reach our community~

and every other ~

causes panic, until

 

The next fad demon,

disease, discomfort, difficulty

is tweeted over cyberspace

insisting that we are aware…

 

Not to worry;

awareness lasts but a splash

in the grand scheme of Time…

 

Like a bucket of ice water

dumped on your head.

 

Author's Note

Nothing against people who have done the "ice water challenge", but I can't help think this whole thing is a fad, and those same people who are dumping buckets of water on themselves today will next month be trying to remember what "ALS" stands for. The news and social media seems to need for us to be in a righteous tizzy all the time...

Reviews

[Baby Ricochet]

Maybe if Lucy had slugged Williams on the arm as she often did her brother Linus Williams would still be here.

[Rita L. Sev]

Lucy did have a way of getting her point across... Thanks, Mark.

[Cerise]

Very well said...its all a matter of time before something els makes the news....well done...

[Rita L. Sev]

Yep. Maybe next month we'll be rolling in mud for IBS awareness... Thanks, Fancyfati.

[Frieda P]

Reading it is like a bucket of ice water being dumped on your head ;) ....love that sharp wit of yours Rita!

[Rita L. Sev]

Well, it gets attention, doesn't it? :) Thanks, Frieda!

[Frieda P]

Yep, exactly why I have to take breaks from the news, I'm in a tizzy already, it makes me insane most days. You're welcome!

[Matching Socks]

Well played Rita. :)
Well said.

[Rita L. Sev]

Thank you, Ana!

[kublakhan27]

This is so awesome...what a perfect commentary on the influence of social media, as perfect as any I've ever read...I owe you a big high-five for this one Rita...the first stanza was spot-on, and the last stanza could not have ended this piece any more perfectly...I actually took down the poem I wrote for Williams cuz it became a forum for social commentary, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's when social commentaries break out on my pages...all I wanted to do was mourn a lost life, but that wasn't enough for people...most people just wanted to take the opportunity to spout off their personal opinions cuz it was a convenient time to do so...you were one of the very few who saw the true sentiment in that poem, so it's perfectly fitting that you would write such a piece...I can't tell you how much i enjoyed this one, and how much satisfaction I got in realizing that i wasn't the only one who had these thoughts...one of my favourite Rita pieces for sure...awesome work :)

[Rita L. Sev]

Thank you, Steve. I worry about posting pieces like this. I don't want to offend anyone, yet I just can't remain silent in the face of such lemming-like behavior. And the stuff that I am seeing on facebook about Williams and depression - SO inappropriate and frustrating! I tell myself that this is how people cope with tragedy in the world today...

[kublakhan27]

Oh I know my friend, that's why I took my poem down...I didn't care about offending anyone, but they were starting to offend ME...it's kind of sad when you can't mourn someone without that person being judged before they're even laid to rest...I don't care much for humanity sometimes...

[Marie]

There's alwasy something else,...if it isn't a new tragedy, it's a new disease, a new fad, anything, so long as it's new.

[Rita L. Sev]

That's right - and none of it ever gets fixed... Thanks, Marie.

[Troy Henson]

Well said Rita....when did lifes true values wash away and nonsense step in.

Regards

[Rita L. Sev]

Nonsense it certainly is... Thanks, Troy!

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

The great thing about the net it is a great place to gain information fast, but it is also a place to spread gossip quickly as well. Nice one Rita.

Love that opening stanza.

[Rita L. Sev]

That's so true, Dale. Everything is public, even the most private of tragedies...

[Cory Barrett]

Enough ice buckets eventually cause hypothermia. Causing numbness, and a lithium still death.

There are more words of philosophy in this piece than my last ethics class

[Rita L. Sev]

Thank you so much, Cory. Yes, numbness indeed.

[Sheila Kline]

Oh yes, you have certainly gotten this in the right context! I think the "ice water challenge" is a joke even though it is for charity. Yes, if they only understood what it was all about. As you say, awareness lasts but a splash - excellent way to describe it! And remember when even "demons" were the fad? God help us!!

[Rita L. Sev]

Ha! Yes, I do recall the demon fad! I know ALS is an important cause - one among many - and I hope the people who are taking this "challenge" understand that. Thanks, Sheila.