Memectomy

Memectomy

The poly-political parrot posts,

Any old thing anybody puts out;

Oft keeping alive ridiculous ghosts,

Of outrageous slogans that windbags spout.

Often they're lies or an argument dead,

Or cast aside, as it's no longer news.

Yet, it seems anything anyone said,

Lies dormant to recycle and reuse,

As the groundwork for yet another meme,

That skewers one person or another.

This should make many readers want to scream;

Yet, few voices ever seem to bother.

Is memectomy the panacea,

For recycled online diarrhea?

Mick McKellar

June 2014

Is it just by chance that emetic and memetic are so close? I still occasionally enjoy tracking an Internet meme -- especially something original, thoughtful, funny, or moving. However, of late, I’ve been awash in old spam and the worst sort of trash -- for example, a painting of someone like Thomas Jefferson with a “quote” spouting bigotry, vulgarity, and bad grammar. Oh, I forgot...it also usually has the admonition to “share” it if I truly love America (the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, my family, etc.). Yeah, right…

Mick