what is all this?

the news today of horrors and death,
of madness spun by loneliness,
of panic, of regret and loss of hope,
of the wish that the world could be
so much better than this;

the news today pushes the old news
of the horrors and death and madness
off the front page, out the door
and stacked outside alongside
all the others, like so much

kindling-wood, cut and waiting
for the coldest winter,
in the deepest dark,
waiting for the match
when we can finally burn it all