DAILY MAIL

dont read the Daily Mail
and
for
sure
dont BUY it

on the cafe table i read the headline 
and
turn to page five
and
all the problems of popular journalisms
black print hysterical yelling 
where 
editorial opinions leak red over drowning facts
wash me in an instant hopeless darkness
and
make me weak
helpless
and
sad

'britains shadowy secret courts'
'welfare immigrants steal houses prices'
'labour badgers push legal highs'

or similar . . .

i fold it and chuck it to the next table
annoyed with myself and the world
and
instead
concentrate
on the pretty girl with the panini in her knuckle duster paws
opposite 
me
and smiling

a family fill the next table
and
the catalogue shirt and slacks dad 
drops his car keys by his iphone
and
turns to page five
and reads 
with no expression 
at all