Telegraph Ghazal

At first you might suspect news of an unstoppable
Gold rush in the South Dakota hills.  But that’s not it.  Stop

Thinking of all the mines turning stone to smoke and the greasy
Water that slips out in cyanide and cadmium from the stopped-

Up gullies.  Or news that a great-aunt Mabel known only to you
In the small yellowing of some photos has stopped

Breathing and you, as the only next-to next-of kin, are the one
To collect her.  This is not the way we communicate now.  Stop.

We expect the Amazonian link where our books are forever for sale
In the evergreen forest of commerce.  The attached video with non-stop

Girl-on-girl action. It’s del.icio.us, all a-
Twitter.  It’s about branding, don’t you digg it? Stop

It for chissakes, won’t you, Thomson?  Haven’t you made your point?
Now that you’re connected, there’s nothing that can stop you.