Then, Then, Now

Greetings all -

In the wake of revelations of mass surveillance, the tv show The Prisoner often has come to my mind; and to the minds of many others as well.  It certainly was a brilliant series and Patrick McGoohan was a fine actor - who also had some comedic flair (anyone who saw him on Murder, She Wrote, or in one of the epicodes of Columbo he was on, could tell you!)  But the overall theme of being surveilled and fighting for freedom is certainly current today.  And with The Partiot Act and Section 215 possibly seeing sunset this summer, we should be aware and be pressuring for an end to this unconstitutional mass surveillance.

But sometimes one just needs a poem to get things out!

Then, Then, Now

Dedicated to my Father and to Patrick McGoohan

Watching the original airing of The Prisoner

Was vetoed by this then high-schooler’s parents

Despite protests that it would not cause me nightmares

It was years later

When I, then finally an adult professional,

Faithfully watched the rebroadcast

Of all the episodes in order

Together with my Father

Dad and I were transported to The Village each week

To follow the adventures of Mr. McGoohan’s character

As he sought his freedom

The concepts explored in that series decades earlier

Echo through to one now a bit more mature

And slightly more cynical

As revelations have exposed the realities

Of our own “Village”

So in the spirit of Number Six

And in memory of two gentlemen

I raise my voice against mass surveillance

And declare:

“I am not an IP Number to be tracked,

I am not GPS location information to be followed,

I am not metadata to be collected and sifted through;

I AM A FREE WOMAN!”

And now, a couple of links:

Here is the transcript of a great interview with Mr McGoohan himself. 

And here is more activist info on opposing Section 215

P. S. 
It would be REALLY nice to get a comment now and then...