Max Reif - The Difference Between Journalism and Literature

Who what where why when,
the 5 'ws', the lead of the story
are supposed to tell the reader,
I'd learned in this journalism school,

but I'm stuck on the first 'w',
haven't even gotten to the story.

Who am I? Doesn't the writer
need to answer that question
before he can write the news?

Before I put down the first word,
a thousand speculations
cross the surface of my mind,
and the pencil never moves.

I sit at my desk asking myself,
who is writing this?

I try to go back
and remember: let's see,
I was born after World War II.

A cloud of advertising
brought our country
forgetfulness in the '50s.
Not so long before that,
the Industrial Revolution
alienated labor.

The world, in which
all these dramas were enacted
arose out of cosmic dust,
which itself came
out of a big explosion...

'Turn in your papers.
Class is dismissed, '
I heard the professor say.

My pencil hadn't written a word.

Max Reif

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-difference-between-journalism-and-literature/