Matthew Sorrento

ALL THE ACCUSED

He finally had his chance.
For just an hour, he’d get
the luxury treatment: a comfy ride
to a press conference,
from the steel
of his cell.

He'll address the charges,
why he showed up that night,
leaving two dead, and "being brazen
enough” to try it
right across from the station.

"Your social media presence is
too much,"
his attorney told him,
a fitted-suit woman, desperate
beneath her makeup,
“with everyone following your story.
It’s why all the accused
now get 15 minutes
of prime-time.
The networks want it back
from the virals
on the phones.
And here's your chance:
Describe what happened.
And don't even think
of getting your glory
here. Show how you were pushed
into it, as we planned last night."

The ride whizzed by
as they moved him
toward the Media,
the logo of
“Fresh Copy: Criminals Speak”
above his chair.
The lawyer watched from the side,
but not close at all,
with the cameras rolling in
and an interviewer
behind bulletproof glass.

He'd have his voice,
reaching out
to put everyone
in his grip.


Terri Lynne Hudson's YouTube reading of "All The Accused"


Matthew confesses: " I was thinking of how social media largely controls communication with immediate updates, and how corporations control this flow of info with algorithms. Meanwhile, influencers -- even dangerous ones -- can exploit these networks. What if a media corporation would promote an older form of media, primetime television, to combat the power for social media, only to Make Criminals Celebrities Again there, too...?"


MATTHEW SORRENTO is editor of Film International Online and Retreats from Oblivion: The Journal of NoirCon. He has published widely on genre cinema/television, documentary film, crime fiction, and genre poetry. His work has appeared in Noir City Magazine, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and as accompanying essays for Stark House Press and Arrow Video. His poetry and fiction have also appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, and Chamber Magazine. Sorrento teaches film and media studies at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. HIs forthcoming collection is Becoming Nosferatu: Stories Inspired by Silent German Horror (co-edited by Gary D. Rhodes, BearManor Media).