uncomfortable with prying eyes

uncomfortable with prying eyes,
rumination, paranoia will destroy ya,
in civil institutions and in your gut,
it will tear you apart like a paper shredder

elements of freedom and dissent are absent,
the innocent hungers for any esthetic silence,
but no peace of mind can be found now

cameras everywhere, in every car a p.i.,
tired of being torn down by these restless thieves,
weary of these thoughtless puritans,
by those who purge you of position, of your attitude,
of the feelings in your heart, of the spirit in your soul,
by individuals famished for recognition, hungry for identity,
aching for notoriety and the appreciation of the crowd,
long denied that for their indulgences against humility

it is antiseptic, safe, death to hierarchies of taste
and distinctions of talent, and yet determined to
neutralize our stillness, our tranquility
with an excess of useless information

what's remarkable about this seen
is how neat and clean everything is,
as clean as a third-grade classroom,
but it is far more obliterating in its
indifference to its innocent subject,
a survival cocoon for the retch within,
everything is turned upside-down,
the grasshopper has become a grub