end of year, subscriptions running out

if a strange woman approached you
saying, with an intense earnestness
"My name is Eve, and you can trust me
implicitly."

how would you react?

just saying, my first reaction
would be extreme distrust

of course context matters

if a strange woman approached me
in church with that line, I'd think
she was nuts,
I'd look around for some deacon
to get her counselling

if in a singles bar, I suppose
this line would be normal, although
not having been in a singles bar
for forty years, if ever,
how would I know?

it's the end of the year,
dark autumn evening
all my magazine subscriptions
are running out

The Atlantic, Harpers, The Economist,
Wired -- Wired wants me to
"stay connected"

of course I didn't pay hard-earned
money for these papers, got them with
excess frequent flyer miles,
which function in part as currency
these days

it was fun for a year,
not having to buy them with real money
good bathroom reading,
reading at solitary meals

but the worlds they explore
are increasingly alien

years ago I forsook TV
in favor of a desktop computer

but little by little
the Mass Media have invaded
my screen

I made the mistake of
"going online"
now Lindsay Lohan pursues me
Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton

I'm up on their latest divorces
drug problems, plastic surgeries

helpless to resist
I stare at the screen, hypnotized,
in wonder, as the alien worlds
sweep over me