The news came and was read to him. Reputable, reliable, unassailable Distressing, depressing, distasteful. “What’s to be done!?” He rejects it in a tantrum Like an infant expectorating smashed peas. The facts are formidable Incontrovertible. Read to him, he hated it like a lie. “What’s to be done!?” He snatches it As a toddler unwilling to share. Tosses it away. It can’t be real. “Burn it.” Its provocateur. “What’s to be done!? “Arrest the author.” The news came And demanded change. It did not fit the current state Which if maintained Could not be sustained. The facts said turn away From the path of decay Because the end is unavoidable.