The Mask Of Tyranny I As I lay abed in Bruges A wild story flashed across the news, With great anger forth it made me, Rail against such travesty. II First I saw the Horseman Plague And he was dressed as William Hague, Smug he was, completely fake; Seven spooks slithered in his wake. III All were rabid; no surprise! Drunk on the wine of wild surmise The chalice emptied to the lees Each did his very best to please. Sowing untruths and disease. IV Now came War who did prefer The Battle Dress of Obama; His false words, for he spoke well, Turn’d to unmanned drones which fell V Upon the families in the ‘Stans - No foreign blood will soil his hands - Every one a terrorist, Their bodies are now blown to bits. VI Comes Clapper next all armed with lies He swears on oath this Chief of Spies, Committing wilful perjury He is allowed to go scot-free. VII So many shiftless goons appear, To tell us we have nought to fear Unless we have got ought to hide From electronic ears and eyes. VIII Last came Secrecy: upon An invisible horse, seen by none. Nor any thing of him could we see, Bedecked in all his finery IX Yet he cantered proud and tall A head at least above them all And when he spoke all fell in thrall ‘I TRUMP YOUR RIGHTS, YOUR PRIVACY AND LAW!’ X So saying he dismissed the throng Forbidding them to gaze upon His opaque mask of secrecy: “For there are things YOU MUST NOT SEE!" XI Ministers, judges, soldiers stayed And with his minions thus arrayed They moved against the Written Word: Nor any single demur heard XII As the invading army passed Each was required to kiss its arse: To render ALL without exclusion, Concealing nothing from intrusion. XIII Phone calls, emails, clickstreams too! The unrestrained demands just grew For fear of fear they bravely sought An end to all seditious thought. XIV And ev’ry citizen afraid Was gripped by this insane charade, Fearing his neighbours and their Gods: Cowed before law, supine as dogs. XV Came forth the ministers and spies Adorned with D-notices and lies - The willing goons who did agree To render all to Secrecy: XVI ‘Now we have the perfect weapon To control the population; Our ideals bankrupt, message sour, Give us Fear and War and Power!’ XVII Lawyers and judges soon agreed To fall in step, in thought, in deed As ravens in conspiracy Quoth - ‘Render ALL to Secrecy.’ XVIII In cheerful tones they cried with glee ‘Render ALL to secrecy! No evidence need be submit By Masters of the Internet.’ XIX And Secrecy, that veiled horseman Slyly knew how he had won: For Fear will bring forth Victory O’er those who hazard Privacy. XX Well he knew the data centres Of the World were his to enter, First emails, searches, then the rest: Call metadata, SMS…. XXI Spooks pried into every corner Vacuuming each piece of data, Boundless informants ueber alles: "O Tempora o Morales!" XXII Yet one among the spooks laments His conscience pricked, this penitent, Knowing his master’s schemes are wrong He boldly flies to far Hong Kong: XXIII ‘Your People have no privacy. I spied for milord Secrecy Everything you write and say Is filtered by the NSA!’ XXIV ‘All his ministers and his courts Do his bidding without thought Cloaked in dark hypocrisy And now they will come after me’ XXV Saying thus he blew the whistle, Telling Greenwald and MacAskill Of all the spooks behind the scenes. Snowden starts to spill the beans: XXVI From Congress covert programs hidden With the knowlege of Booz Allen; Verizon were handing over Call metadata to Obama! XXVII Then Facebook, Google, and Yahoo, Microsoft and Apple too: Accessories before the fact Of FISA and the Patriot Act. XXVIII Yet one by one they all denied The ugly truth: they had complied! While purblind judges sat on hands In Star Chambers across the land. XIX As Snowden’s truth spread far and wide Lord Secrecy rose up and cried: “There is no place upon this earth Where ye can live or hide, henceforth" XXX "Ye shall be hunted and refused Asylum for your subterfuge. A #life of exile your reward For humiliating Your Lord!”