driving through Pittsburgh
reminded my news brain today
that when some leaders speak

tunnels are smart to tune out
of South Lawn broadcasts
for some therapeutic radio silence

I open my windows to absorb the sound
of my time machine’s wheels spinning
lights strobing overhead almost ticking by

like sprocket holes on film strip
I heard centuries of voices this morning
forcing my impatience to focus

on that bright opening straight ahead
as Mother and Father Time must do
through millenniums of toll booths

time zones and tyrannical reruns
when I broke back into daylight
I realized it was only one channel

and they’ve been lying forever
longer than the lives of iron cities
that will still connect us regardless