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.