School Christmas Performance

http://www.abctales.com/story/barely-black-francis/school-christmas-perf...

I wanted to draw attention to this, because it's good, and I also wanted to critique it. The last two lines are my favourites. 'Mega pixel envy' is memorable, but I don't feel it should be so swiftly followed by another adjective-plus-noun-describing-second-noun combination in 'red eye memories', although the idea in 'red eye memories' is strong. I just think that line needs to be rearranged.

Most of the poem does its work, and the description of the children says a lot with few words. You can see the shepherds shouting, "WE ARE HERE TO SEE THE SON OF GOD" and hear the sickly choruses and all that. But "tomorrows spice girl" needs an apostrophe, and shoudl really, I think, refer to something other than a has-been 90's group. 'Tomorrow's Ashley Simpson' might be better, except that she's American. Um.

Anyway, I also like that creepy, underlying idea, nudged forth in that line, that the nativity play is the start of our culture's quest for instant fame. Children thrust into the spotlight in the hope of finding the brassy one with the loud voice, who teachers and parents can then spend years grooming into a starlet.