By so the arsonists want to be remembered as the firefighters
what I remember was
that you lied
and said it was okay
because these were noble lies
lies for my own good
you just wanted me to do what you wanted me to do
so the end justifies the means and all that
I call that misinformation
you called it benevolence
I mean, free doughnuts, burgers, and beer
how could I resist
you relentlessly repeated
that it was highly effective and safe
but only allowed the dissemination of evidence
that properly corroborated your case
you said one size fits all
despite the tremendous discrepancy
between a healthy 19 year old
and an elderly 91 year old
to coerce me into conforming
you made my risk calculation for me
you browbeat me with heuristics
and manipulated statistics
on a normal mortal day what was a tragic accident
was now reported to say – a Covid death
so the hospital could score a more bloated check
you abandoned the maxims of medicine
and the principles of its people
you wouldn’t let doctors be doctors
or let patients be informed of options
no, you prescribed the cure
the only acceptable cure
that just happened to be the product
of big government, big pharma
and the mainstream media conglomerate
I know-
I’m just supposed to go along with it
supply and demand
you supply it
and you demand it
if only that was all you did
you bulldozed skateparks
and arrested mothers for playing at the park
with their children
meanwhile millions marched
in “mostly peaceful” protests
parading arm in arm, row by row through the streets
wading through a cloud of viral vapor you said was so deadly
that I couldn’t stand by myself at the beach
you were so wise for
closing churches – those were unessential
you were so wise for
destroying anyone’s business that wasn’t Walmart or Amazon
or Pfizer
you taught children to fear faces
you masked them while maskless politicians pranced through their classrooms
confounding them
you masked cheerleaders
while twenty thousand maskless people cheered around them
you locked us down then
wined and dined with your lobbyists
I get it – how could you possibly be expected to launder if
you had to follow the same rules that you made for the commoners
it’s obvious
I’m the villain here
you promised that shots would stop the spread
you snarled and vilified the unclean
and when proven wrong
you conveniently forgot what you said
you painted circles in the grass
partitioned us by papers and glass
as if our politics weren’t enough
you herded us onto meticulously distanced platforms of pittance
you said there would be no Christmas for the plebes
you partied at Martha’s Vineyard
and pardoned it
because the pandemic didn’t target sophisticated elites
you stripped us of dignity, and liberty
except for those you would vigorously anoint
you told us not to worry
for freedom would soon be restored… at syringe point
you adorned your doors with signs like whites only-
I mean “vaxxed only”
you perpetuated witch hunts
you berated people on planes
you put people in camps
you made contradictory claims
you seized bank accounts
you fired anyone that wouldn’t comply
you tore apart families
you wouldn’t even let them say goodbye
you craved power
so instead of educating the public
and advocating critical thinking
you did anything you could to make their fear greater
you deleted people from social media for saying the same things
the corporate media finally endorsed a year later
you scorned and warned and deplatformed
you said you were the only source of truth
you blatantly branded any objectors
as fools with unacceptable views
derelict heretics and hoodlums
you propped up dehumanization as the proper moral posture
you laughed and sneered when people died,
then told me that you’re the good ones
that seems like a lot
well, it was
and now come the retrofitted headlines
the revisionist history
and all the gaslighting on top of it
taking away mandates does not take away your culpability
I am not impressed with you retracting the plank after you’ve made me walk off of it
I am not impressed when you constrain your whips
I am not impressed when you lift the boot from my esophagus
because you need to change your socks
I am not impressed with your concern for humanity
when your real concern
was obviously how much you profited
I know you’ve already forgotten
and you want me to just forget it all too
well I’m penning these words
and speaking them
against the ominous odds that
some modicum of this survives the memory purge
if it does, let memory serve
let memories be stirred
let us remember
what we all knew
What do you think?