the tower of babel
was nothing
compared to that chilling night
last week
when i was flipping channels
and there were no shows
only commercials
jabbering
trying to be funny
trying to be artsy
or obscure
trying like hell
to get under my skin
so I would wake up the next day
brainwashed --
but I won the battle of will
after a frantic half hour
fighting the brand names
spelled wrong half the time
the corruption --
I dove under the covers
like a little boy, terrified.

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Published in Gotta Write "Midnight Selections" 4/02