Overview
This poem is one of a series written by Morgan which he referred to as "instamatic poems".
The Instamatic was a camera, popular in the 1960s and '70s, which was inexpensive and easy to load and allowed millions of people to take instantly produced pictures for the first time. Morgan uses the term "instamatic" to describe a type of poetry which is instantaneous and documentary in feel.
Morgan has said that these poems were based on real events that he had either seen reported on television or read about in the newspapers. Just as a news reporter does, he tries to present the facts of the story objectively and dispassionately. The poet is not an observer in the poem itself and he is careful not to add comment. This allows the reader to put their own interpretation on the events described.