Everyone Is Briefed Now

As discussed. As agreed. As we understand it. As people are saying. The activist said harmful The headline said concerns The minister said listening The panel said we’ve learned The office said inclusive The neighbour said of course The phrase came back by lunchtime With no detectable source The rest of us are listening For where the line began Was it public, was it private? Was it policy or brand? Everyone is briefed now Nobody knows by whom Talking heads to talking heads Then talking in the room Everyone is briefing now The source is hard to name The citizen, the minister The outlet sound the same I’m speaking as a person In a pre-approved way With no formal connection To the things I’m here to say I’m deeply disappointed I’m cautiously appalled I welcome the discussion I haven’t read it all Read the room Read the line Read the mood You’ll be fine The rest of us are watching The sentence change its clothes From outrage into guidance Into something someone knows Everyone is briefed now Nobody knows by whom Talking heads to talking heads Then talking in the room Everyone is briefing now The source is hard to name The citizen, the minister The outlet sound the same The paper said the public The public said the feed The feed said trusted sources The sources said proceed The party said the country The country said the screen The screen said people feel this And no one knows who’s been At some point in the morning The wording crossed the floor And by the early evening It was knocking every door Everyone is briefed now Nobody knows by whom Talking heads to talking heads Then talking in the room Everyone is briefing now The source is hard to name The citizen, the minister The outlet sound the same For clarity, we clarify The clarification made In light of wider feelings Currently displayed For balance, we acknowledge The concern we helped arrange And reserve the right to notice If the atmosphere should change No one wrote the briefing No one signed the sheet It simply found the language And the language found the street As discussed As agreed As we understand it People feel Questions raised Lessons must be landed Noted here Shared elsewhere Further comment pending Same concern Different chair Same approved pretending Everyone is briefed now Nobody knows by whom Talking heads to talking heads Then talking in the room Everyone is briefing now The source is hard to name The citizen, the minister The outlet sound the same Everyone is briefed now Everybody knows the tone Nobody found the author But the line arrived full-grown Everyone is briefing now The sentence learned to breed The thought is still in draft form But the posture has agreed As discussed. As agreed. As people are saying. As we understand it. Briefed now. Briefing now. Source unknown. Tone approved.