MIDNIGHT UPDATE

by W. Luther Jett

AI-generated graphic by NightCafe for The New Verse News.

Disney has pulled a transgender storyline from the Pixar original animated series Win or Lose, citing the needs of parents. —Newsweek, December 18, 2024

Trump's long-running battle with Disney saw an unprecedented win for the president-elect this month, when the corporation's ABC News agreed to a $15 million settlement over a defamation lawsuit. —Newsweek, December 19, 2024

A man gives away

bridges. Another

has written a song

without words.

You can hum along.

From now on

We will bring only

good news—

kittens and bunnies,

no troubles, no

bad weather reports.

All our news will be

nice. Nothing

to make you cry,

keep you up at night.

Nice news will take

your mind

off the dark,

off your chains.

W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals as well as several anthologies. He is the author of six poetry chapbooks. His full-length collection Flying to America was released by Broadstone Books in 2024, while his most recent chapbook The Colour Wars has just been released by Kelsay Books.

IMPOSSIBLE

by Diana Morley

A neighborhood destroyed by fire is seen as wildfires devastate the region, Thursday Sept. 10, 2020 in Talent, Ore. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein via The Record Searchlight)

Two long days driving
through thick smoke
behind, ahead, behind
other fleeing drivers,
all going seventy, eighty mph
to get to air.
 
Diverted from inland to coast
from coast to inland—
fire grenades exploding 
in the hills alongside,
confusing the confused

on the road through 
Sweet Home
behind family
trailer homes
horse trailers
evacuating out of town 
till I reach a motel
where I need news— 

the radio 
assures me at 5 pm—

stock market up a tad

China, a valuable resource
for released Disney film—
‘an impossible resource to ignore.’

Author’s Note: I escaped the Alameda fire in Talent last Tuesday. For two days I thought my house was gone, then learned mine and one other neighbor’s survived on the block. That’s fire for you. My return won’t be to the neighborhood; it will be to both sorrow for my neighbors and joy for all those helping and planning for the future.

Diana Morley has published two books of poetry, one in 2019, one this year, been awarded honors by the Oregon Poetry Assn.  Lived in Oregon for 20 years, in Talent for 15 years. 

THE SORRY STATE WE'RE IN

by Julie Steiner

Apologies this week abounded.
Coffeehouses said, “We’re grounded!”
Starbucks got de-albatrossed.
(Astronomical, the cost.)

Apologies were everyplace
while Facebook went on saving face.
That launched a thousand ads. (Relation-
ships were shown. And desperation.)

Apologies came thick and fast:
“That reckless stage of ours is past.
We’ve reined it in,” proclaimed Wells Fargo;
Disney let a lowered Barr go.

Apologies were this week’s style.
Uber overcame denial.
Since perverts squeezed their bottom line,
they're preaching, "To forgive’s divine."

Apologies, though très en vogue,
are clothes one emperor-slash-rogue
won’t deign to don. He shuns contrition:
bare-faced lies draw less suspicion.


Julie Steiner gets snarky in San Diego.