The Spin
Rohan Buettel
you are a gyrating top, all giddy sin
I am nothing more than
evasive abstractions, void in the concrete
the means to influence an audience
selecting facts to suit your argument
the perceptions, the conclusions
whether truth or lies
are effected by my scaffolding
loading language with luggage
I am not here to manipulate
common sense, prejudice, stereotypes
with rational argument
engulf the public with feeling
and propagate
the pull of emotional response
conforming views that comfort
smother all contradictors
people will believe anything
cover them with calumny
tell them often enough
one-sided messages
tell them emphatically
delivered by all media
I will change their understanding
Rohan Buettel lives in Canberra, Australia. His haiku appear in various Australian and international journals (including Presence, Cattails, and The Heron’s Nest). His longer poetry recently appears in The Goodlife Review, Rappahannock Review, Penumbra Literary and Art Journal, Mortal Magazine, Passengers Journal, Reed Magazine, Meniscus, and Quadrant.