ambulance chasing’s
way too slow,
you never see the gory bits,
not often the ungory
subsequent
cadaver under wraps,
only the weeping widow,
distraught relations
etc.,

so when it comes to reporting
on violence and war
we want it fair,
no faking,
direct and on the spot,
no slipping in clips
from Apocalypse Now,
a snuff film, no less:

the newsreel cameramen
are infantry
and take their lumps with all the rest,
we expect
a high rate of attrition
in this field,
well attested: it shows
we’re doing it right.
technology
has got to be
state of the art
maximum participation
saturation surveillance,
properly lit,
close-ups on detail
multiple monitors
to switch to where the action is 
full wall screen of course,
full viewer activated zoom,
last gasp and glaze,
exactly to order:
what’s technology for?

and perhaps with luck
the ultimate sensation,
grand slam redoubled,
hole in one
--all that and more:
the bullet smashes
the camera lens:
death by proxy,
shot in the head

(although the real connoisseurs
greatly prefer
a more delicate pleasure,
a gourmet taste,
the instant track of fear
across a woman’s face
on a rooftop in Belgrade
or Baghdad.)