Dear Norm,
I’m writing to you because
I did not know who else
to turn to. I read about you
in that shabby human
interest article about
the people affected by
the Homeland
Security reorganization.
You, Norm O. Perative.
A retired SEAL, right?
And praised author
of several highly respected,
(albeit by a very small audience)
and hardly circulated
monographs on PsyOps for the telecommunications age.
Moved, from doing who knows
what, through a variety of
consultancies and contractors,
under your prior clandestine orders,
to manning the switchboard,
plugging in variable indicia
of suspectness, eh?
Triaging reports
of suspicion from commuter
and neighbor.
Assuming the
beneficence of your prior mission,
it is a shame, and also ironic,
that you went
from designing false flags to
assigning priority to TIPS-line confessions,
flagging only the actionable.
You may notice
that this communication is not
a phone call to 1-800-USA-TIPS,
but instead a note to you.
This, Norm, is but the first
of many suspicious wonders
that I could enumerate,
could explore with and for you.
I mean for you, Norm,
agent of the executive of this great nation,
charged with securing
our security and the homeland,
and not personally. Of course.
Here’s another, Norm: what sort
of sociopolitical organization would need
to refer to a particular region as the Homeland?
Only one with other regions, right?
Please write back.
I’ve oh so many
suspicions to devise.
-- Patricia Riyault