How lovely it would be
to sleep the unending sleep.

When we were children we were blameless.
Our drama was the stuff of skinned knees
and through the day we were princes and,
after dark,
thieves.

Later, we learned our place.

They gave us our list of requirements -
rules
for this or that,
and they branded us criminal, troubled, and
unfit to serve.

They put us in categories and typed our names into databases
with our sins to forever chase us
down to the gates of
hell.

All men are created equal yet
are destined to be unequally judged.

Here is my back
and these are my knees.

I'm down to just one arm and right ankle,
but I'll hand them over too
for another overpriced gadget
and a dozen more channels.