Reeling Eagle Gazes

Two thousand, nine hundred seventy seven

Forcibly taken, begging questions.

For America why is there such hate?

What will be foreign policy’s fate?

How was our security so lax?

Was it a beginning or a climax?

Bald eagle reeled, cast out its claws

Most thought it had justifiable cause.

Forty five days after terrorist attack

Nation went forward, didn’t look back.

Twenty years ago today, Patriot Act passed

Surveillance powers government amassed.

Arguments in favor were popular and swift

You dared not oppose them and create a rift.

“Bad guys are everywhere.”

“They could be over there!”

“Never again, on our soil.”

“Civil rights we will not spoil!”

Mastermind found and killed

Oaths to the fallen fulfilled

From terrorism citizens shielded

By authority agencies wielded.

Yet, a not so hidden beast

On our freedoms feast.

Just ask one fleeing NSA defector

His leaked information a specter.

Two decades removed

Reminder might behoove:

When you fight monsters

You gaze into the abyss

And it gazes into you.