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 an invasion of Syria?
Was the election of Donald Trump rigged?
Did Libya's leader vanish
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.