containing "Names of foreign terrorists,
threats to civil aviation…", makes for
long queues at airport check-in,
anxious faces waiting to board
scanning the other anxious faces for
telltale signs: that nose, this dark brow,
those furtive eyes – revealing she is, he is
the one who would (zealous minds
packed with gelignite) blow us
from these tenuous skies.
At the checkpoint, the officer's thumb
scans the rolls, yanks suspects from the line
for questioning, for body searches, for
our own protection (anything
for our own protection!)
But the list is growing, the net widening
to snare your name, your identity
as a potential threat.  Some
threaten legal action, and then
their names, their husbands' and wives',
their lawyers' and friends' – fuel for the list.
"Extreme times call for extreme measures…".
I've heard that the no speak list
is already being gathered, name after name,
spooling into the distance.  How long,
I'm wondering (but don't tell them
where you heard this!), how long
before the no breathe list is
issued, enforced?
 
                                                 (for Askold)