tables turned

following the “suicide”
of Aaron Swartz,
a delightful punch has been driven
into the gut of the empire,
whose eyes now
twitch & whose muscles now
flinch,
for the tables are turning,
when it comes to oppressing the
citizens of this world.

there was a time when
those with guns & bombs
would win out every time
when approaching a peaceful
demonstration---
tearing up the crowds with brute
force &
leaving the dead & injured in
the wake,
they’d “teach us all a lesson,”
that we should not speak truth to
their power, that we should not
rouse the rabble,
that we should not try & breathe
when we are being smothered.

in Aaron’s own 26 years, he just
began to see the change, himself
such an integral part of a
technological uprising of sorts,
where the line has become blurred
between those who control the buttons &
those who are powerless in the face of
such tyrants.

and no matter how many people get
rounded up by the FBI, the CIA or any of
those on their knees worldwide, ready to
suck off the empire for quick cash & a
buddy-pat on the back,
there is a strength that emanates from within
the walls, from behind the bars &
which walks quietly in the shadows---
and it does so with the most acute &
unwavering sense of memory.