Poem: Trust Us

Poem: Trust Us

K. Titchenell

Graffiti by a street artist called Vinchen. Photo from Jeff Schuler.
 
 
We may have lied to congress and
We may have lied to you
But we’re asking you to trust in us
And everything we do

There is no need to fear the threat
Of ears within the walls
“Don’t worry, no one’s listening
to all your cell phone calls”

That’s not to say we don’t assemble
Every word you say,
And read and type and contemplate
For use another way

We search and seize it all without
A warrant or a court
And then we run a study and a
Loyalty report

We may have lied to congress and
We may have lied to you
But we’re asking you to trust in us
And everything we do

Snowden, Greenwald, Appelbaum
Their insolence and gall!
They try to keep us from our stated
Task: “Collect it all”

We need surveillance everywhere
We must defend our nation
by coercing a compliant press
and throttling education

We may have lied to congress and
We may have lied to you
But we’re asking you to trust in us
And everything we do

We engineer compliance from
The ones who might transgress
With diligent surveillance of
The people and the press

The fear of little miscreants
Is used to justify
Egregious criminality
In agencies that spy

We play the terror card — compelling
words, but insincere.
The outrage of our citizens
Is what we really fear.

We may have lied to congress and
We may have lied to you
But we’re asking you to trust in us
And everything we do

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