> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.hawkword.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Free
- URL: https://www.hawkword.com/poetry/free/
- Published: 2021-10-19T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-10-19T12:00:00.000Z
- Description: our minds, a blessing and a curse susceptible to propaganda accepting earnestness as candor and catchy slogans writ in verse we wish to resonate in kind and cannot fully comprehend when others do not understand why ca...
- Author: A. Gee
- Tags: Poetry, Allpoetry Import, #Import 2026-04-25 19:56

our minds, a blessing and a curse  
susceptible to propaganda  
accepting earnestness as candor  
and catchy slogans writ in verse  
we wish to resonate in kind  
and cannot fully comprehend  
when others do not understand  
why can't they see, they must be blind  
our gods, both secular and divine  
demand obeisance -- we ought  
they say, to criminalize thought  
that's not aligned to what they preach  
what is the value of free speech  
oh yes, you compartmentalize  
assign neat buckets to your lies  
and feel secure in your own truth  
ah, for the certainty of youth  
what is the value of free speech?  
it's hard to practice what you preach

---

**Author notes:** "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." —George Orwell, 1984