A Perfect American - an art work by T Newfields
My brain is shrinking
and I feel increasingly dumb.
Hours & hours of television
are making my conscience numb.

I work without emotion
like a well-programmed machine
without thinking deeply:
my life is a programmed routine.

Fulfilling production quotas is easy
& what I say is usually considered "correct."
However, I must mask any traces of doubt –
critics are marked derelict.

Was there actually a 2019 invasion of Syria?
Was the 2016 election of Donald trump rigged?
Did Libya's leader vanish in 2011
because Washington willed it?
Such "facts" are fading from memory.

Although I'm not a perfect citizen yet
Homeland Security informs me I'm doing well:
Soon I’ll be an exemplary citizen –
a true patriotic Yankee
ready to do whatever our leaders order,
as predictable as Pavlov's bell.