The Deeds of Others

I have often heard it said that our news sources tend to report the ubiquitous savage or outrageous acts of this world rather than the perhaps equally common acts of kindness.  Be that as it may, the atrocities afforded by the daily news often afford a disturbing source of food for thought about right and wrong, life and death, and the natures of existence and humanity. 

I often find myself rejecting poems on controversial subjects because they tend to be diatribes.  I do not publish diatribes.  However, Donal Mahoney gives us a bit to think with his poem about the woman who threw her newborn out the window on September 27th, 2013.  I read a news item on the incident online from the East St. Louis Dispatch.  While it is perhaps not without bias, Donal's poem simply recounts the incident and then goes on to extrapolate some possible reactions of others.  

There is much in the incident to wonder about that might be revealed if such revelation has value to the machine that brings us news.  On the other hand the wondering itself can be a force in itself.  Personally I wonder what might have driven a person to commit such an act.  She made no attempt to hide what she had done.  What powerful emotion was behind her action?  Should we hate this person, or forgive her?  Does she deserve death or psychiatric treatment?  And if she is treatable, how will she live with herself, knowing what she did?  If she deserves punishment, what should it be?  And if she deserves punishment, who is fit to administer it? 

I hope, as editor, that you will find Donal's latest offering to be as thought provoking as I did. 

• True Story on the Morning News - by Donal Mahoney