The Story of Cynicism.

The people don’t trust the news.
The people have been told a Story.

The story is that journalists are venal,
shoddy, driven by ambition, unconcerned
with ethics or truth, except as weapons
and tools.

And politicians? Same story.
Public servants? Same story.
Lawyers? Same story. Businesspersons?
Same story. Academia? Same story.

It is the Story of Cynicism.
Its moral: people are pretty bad, and you
are pretty naive to think otherwise. Cute,
you are. Funny you are. Oh, and the cause
of the problem? Is you, for buying in. You
enable it. Like as if

to hang back and snark instead
of grousing that it's all irredeemably
lame and ruined is a public service.

It breaks my heart. For me, and for
the general public, but above all
for the shining shards of light
raining into these dark clouds, bright
with youth and enthusiasm, not innocent at all
- to be journalists, leaders, cops, advocates,
bringers of brightness, in open-eyed plunge
we are going in! We'll try hard as we can

to keep what shine
while the whole world tells us how pretty
bad we are. Including the general environment
we’re trying to work to best.

You would have been good
as a journalist. You would have stayed
good. And accomplished, probably

some good.