There I was, quite innocent, an actor in a play

Part of someone’s dream, an apparition

As I read the paper and my eye espied the day:

Tomorrow’s date – tomorrow’s late edition!

How could I – not really there – be reading what would be?

Seeing all the pain and hurt and sorrow

Viewing what was still to come – our future history

Knowing what would happen on the morrow.

Eagerly I turned the pages, surely we would learn

Oil prices – now a record high!

Heat waves hit the Continent – Savage bushfires burn

Ozone holes grow larger in the sky.

Looking at a headline: Fifteen killed in bomb attack!

Page two: kids who die from lack of food

Story on page five: Corrupt official gets the sack

Then they showed a starlet, nearly nude.

Aids was rife in Africa, despite a modern cure

Drugs were far too dear for most to buy

Editorial: Our thoughts are with the starving poor

By the way – our stocks just went sky-high.

Yes, I read it, front to back, in search of happy news

One small glimpse of hope that I could borrow

History repeats, the weak and helpless always lose

The world will still be just as bad tomorrow.