{"id":3510,"date":"2020-05-21T15:54:21","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T15:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thepoetryoftonygraham.com\/?p=3510"},"modified":"2026-03-06T14:57:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T14:57:31","slug":"theyre-watching-me-but-whos-watching-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepoetryoftonygraham.com\/?p=3510","title":{"rendered":"They’re Watching Me – But Who’s Watching Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
\n<\/strong><\/em>Who\u2019s watching me, who should I call?
\nAsked the government, but they refused to discuss.
\nWon’t say who watches the watchers, who are watching us.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019re watching me,
\nBut who\u2019s watching them?
\nThe endless government surveillance
\nIt’s time to stem,
\nWhat\u2019s private to me
\nIS private to me,
\n<\/strong>And it\u2019s not what I want
\nSome government employee to see.<\/p>\n

\"Will<\/p>\n

Conversations that I have
\nWhy do they need to record?
\nHave they nothing better to do
\nAre they getting bored?
\nMy e-mails and my texts
\nThey also scan;
\nTo take control of my life,
\nDo they have a plan?<\/p>\n

CCTV cameras watch me
\nWhere ever I go;
\nWhere ever I am
\nThey seem desperate to know.
\nTo help prevent crime,
\nIs the government’s claim,
\nBut more police on the streets
\nWould achieve just the same.<\/p>\n

So how do they process
\nTheir information haul?
\nCatergorising my privacy
\nThrough which they constantly trawl?
\nAll my private life stored
\nOn some government file,
\nWith my personal rights to freedom
\nHow does that reconcile?<\/p>\n

And all of this information,
\nWho controls how it’s used?
\nHow do we know
\nIt’s not being abused?
\nPerhaps it’s being collected
\nFor some dubious intention,
\nThat’s not on the list
\nThat governments mention?<\/p>\n

My personal freedom
\nNo longer mine to enjoy,
\nAs new methods to watch me
\nThey continually employ.
\nIt\u2019s for national security,
\nThat\u2019s what they pretend,
\nTaking away the very rights
\nThat they claim to defend;<\/p>\n

Yet this desire to watch everyone,
\nTo record everything,
\nCaused them to miss 9\/11
\nAnd that terrorist ring.
\nIf their fetish for spying
\nHad been less intense,
\nThey would have been more effective
\nIn that nation\u2019s defence!<\/p>\n

At the end of the day
\nOur apathy\u2019s to blame,
\nWe used to be fighters,
\nBut now we are tame;
\nWe\u2019re just too accepting
\nWe never demand why;
\nSo when the government says jump,
\nOur response is \u201cHow high?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0June 2015 <\/em><\/p>\n

\"TOOTG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who\u2019s watching me, who should I call? Asked the government, but they refused to discuss. Won’t say who watches the watchers, who are watching us. They\u2019re watching me, But who\u2019s watching them? The endless government surveillance It’s time to stem, What\u2019s private to me IS…<\/p>\n

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