Your Lying Eyes

Your lying eyes deceive you,
Bombs are kind and wise.
Ceasefires are for simpletons—
Don’t believe your lying eyes.

Books are really iron chains,
The truth must be revised.
History is hearsay—
Don’t believe your lying eyes.

ICE will warm the nation’s heart,
You don’t hear the children’s cries.
Family separation is compassion—
Don’t believe your lying eyes.

The president’s a stable genius,
Whose agents liberate with zipties.
Injecting bleach cures COVID—
Don’t believe your lying eyes.

Antifascism is tyranny,
Water is so dry.
Decolonize is a four-letter word—
Don’t believe your lying eyes.

Liberty is a friend of prisons,
To be free is to comply.
Bars are forged from justice—
Don’t believe your lying eyes.

Corporations are people,
dreams can be privatized.
Wall Street is sacred ground—
Don’t believe your lying eyes.

Your rent isn’t climbing through the roof,
Your student loan’s a prize.
You’re on the verge of making millions—
Don’t believe your lying eyes.

At least, that’s what we’ve been told.
It’s the message they advertise.
It’s what we hear the suits all say—
“Don’t believe your lying eyes.”

But my eyes don’t blush
They won’t look away.
And they certainly ain’t shy.
They water, they burn.
They stare, they yearn.
Yet still, they testify.

This poem was first published at on Substack at “Teach Truth & Sing the Blues: Jesse’ Songbook for Survival,” a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support Jesse Hagopian’s work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.