Targets

are what governments take arms against
via radio and television when the citizens
they supposedly serve 'demand action'
-that is they press The Press to renew
the good news about how the statistics
for everyday life are constantly improving.

Little do many citizens realise
that as the subject of these statistics
what the numbers say is about them
and they are the actual government target.

The government don't want more jobs
or for ordinary people to actually live better.
All they want is for the statistics that by law
they have to release to be more effectively divorced
from the reality they are meant to represent.