land of the free

times have changed
& freedom isn’t
what it used
to be.

no photos. no phones.
more obligatory
rules.

your shoes may be a
bomb; your
snapple might
explode!

you look
suspicious––
we need to search
your stuff.

after all,
we need to presume
everyone’s a
terrorist.

& that means
that you’re guilty
first.

we have declared
the time of preemptive
war

& we torture
whom we
will.

unlimited war
means no limits
on our actions––

trust us!

we are the praetorian guard
of the apocalypse––
the holymen of shock &
awe.

you don’t have…
you don’t need civil
rights & the laws of
nations are quaint
reverberations of an
antique past.

the weak accuse us
of fear-mongering––
the twittery-minded
make reference to national
paranoia––

freedom means
nothing less than our
government’s power to
act

& liberty is your
civil right to do
exactly what we
say.