Trending Upward

One of my favorite TV shows is Top Gear, a British car show that is possibly the most watched show on earth, with estimated viewership at 250 million per episode. For those who are unfamiliar, it is a quirky blend of road tests of hypercars and family hatchbacks, epic races between cars and other forms of transport (the Japanese bullet train, for instance), and some sophisticated mayhem. None of that really has an impact on this poem, except that today I was watching the first episode of the second season, from 2003. Now, in the past three years or so, there have been a number of arch references to financial crises in the world and the producers saying they needed to have more family cars on the show and fewer pieces of Italian exotica. This first episode, however, featured nothing exciting at all, at least not in terms of cost. The most expensive car was less than £18,000, which is rather moderate actually. This struck me as odd - there seemed to be as much of an emphasis on affordable living 8 years ago, but without a catchy, economist endorsed name for it. It got me thinking about trends, and how it allows us to label ourselves more conveniently and give us excuses for doing things. Well, that's the longest intro I've ever written for a poem. May you read and understand.

We like to talk of trends,

it makes me one of us,

and you are one of them.

To wit – poor is still poor,

no matter what the year,

and none of us can sleep

entirely secure

that what we have will last

after our dreams have fled.

Recession’s now the word

that gives cheer to our hearts,

for now there’s far less shame

in whining that you’re poor,

because it’s on the news,

Thomas Brokaw, no less,

said it, and now it’s true,

our nations rich with poor.

That’s why our airwaves sing

of gleeful finance plans –

Protect your life, save now,

action alone can stave

off the end you both fear

and know is here – I read

my Bible, and someone

in it said, the poor will

among us quite a while,

and we thought he had meant

the poor will always be

others, not me and you.

So when those moments come,

and we realize we’re poor,

thank God the media

is here to wipe us clean

from shame.