you did not fly into or burn us–
those men are ashes now,
so they can justify only
an enhanced interrogation,
so much softer than torture–
the pain comes from your own muscles
set & biologic as wrong thinking
encoded in DNA, locked;
resisting your stress positioning
cuffed, shackled until your muscles fail
but their hands stay clean
as they rack you
with your own flesh, shivering
to generate heat, naked
until words pour faster
than cold water splashed over bluing skin
this is new language
for an old pain
wrapped & warped
into doublespeak
saving the most famous
for last–
waterboarded truth
is not as interesting
as lies falling from mouths
that will say anything
just to breathe another minute
words are imperative
to stop this, so speak:
say anything
later, they will say
this is not torture–
see, his nail beds are intact,
& soles of feet unblistered
there are no scars
or missing fingers
& the marks on your skin
are from open slaps–
so say anything
you, held safely
offshore
& invisible to my laws
but not absent
from the terms–
enhanced interrogation
is torture
not even prettied by proxy
so speak–
it is difficult to trace
fingerprints
to name the perpetrators
of asphyxiation
tell yours
while you still breathe
Susan Daniels Poetry 
waterboarding is brutal….
really nice weave of the torture throughout this…lots of refernces….oy…the troture but leaving no trace so that they can not be held accountable….the foreboding gives nice mphasis to the close…
Thanks, Brian. Who knew a simple challenge to use a different voice from my usual would result in such… A dark thing. I do like the result, though.
oh heck…this is such a terrible way to make people talk…but then every torture is terrible..physical or emotional… great write susan
Thanks, Claudia. What happened there was unforgivable.
Dark, yes. There are so many forms of torture and responses vary from person to person. You’ve captured the issues well in this interrogative interpretation, Susan. Important poem.
Thank you, Victoria. Odd, that that was what was spawned from thinking in my head–second person interrogative…
Susan Daniels, where did that come from?! >KB
Heh. A prompt about using the second person in a poem, and my mind jumping to second person interrogative/imperative. Odd how the mind works.
Wow, you really took the prompt and ran with it. Really chilling to think about, and writing the ‘you’ makes the reader think about it in a personal way. Torture is torture by whatever name. Nice job.
Mary, thank you. I am still surprised by this.
intense. i have the incredible feeling that the world is lighter having seen this poem. light and dark are not so separate, you know. wonderful.
Jane, thank you. I am so glad this spoke to you. Just started writing it in my head this afternoon, coming back from picking up some coffee.
Amazing, Susan!
Gosh, Laurie–thank you. Still surprised by it.
This made me feel sick in my stomach and sick in my heart. I guess that’s about the only civilised response to this outrage. Powerfully written, Susan.
That is exactly the response such actions deserve. What we did, what we allowed–there is no excuse for it.
Until I saw this happen in graphic detail on the TV, I thought, so what can a few drops of water continually being poured onto your face hurt. I didn’t realise it wasn’t just a few drops of water but a continuous gushing that went up the nose, down the throat and practically drowned you. All torture is barbaric and waterboarding is dreadful to say the least and yes, the person being tortured is likely to say anything, true or false just to stop the pain.
Deeply thought provoking write Susan.
Bren–thank you.
Terrorism, what happened here on 9/11, in unforgivable, but our actions cannot ever be justified as a response to it, and are also beyond forgiveness. Made the point very clear to me that we will never be civilized.
wow, Susan. what a painful, torturing, marvelous piece.
“saving the most famous
for last–
waterboarded truth
is not as interesting
as lies falling from mouths
that will say anything
just to breathe another minute”
you’ve outdone yourself… the words are so vivid and yet so dark – just wow.
Miriam–thank you so much. Means much, coming from you…
Torture is never acceptable… people will confess to anything under torture…as they say… Very chilling poem, it’s scary to think this goes on in many forms and situations all over the world.
Hi Dianne–thanks for commenting. There is no defense or justification for torture, ever. To wrap it up in terms like “enhanced interrogation” sends chills down my spine.
Disturbing.
Absolutely.
Chilling write on this kind of torture and pain ~ Great voice ~
Thank you, Grace. I only wish I never got the inspiration for this one.
What he said, she said, she said, not what he said, almost what she said and some of what he said.
It’s not easy to be a late commenter you know 😉
LOL, Mike–you rock, whenever you show up.
WOW! Your creative and likely science-based approach made me shiver. Not much scares or disturbs me. This did. Advancements are so often used in a manner such as this.
Kim–understood. I had to approach this with science and not the humanity of it, or I never, EVER would have been able to write this. Glad this spoke to you.
..words are indeed very important…. it affects us in so many ways…. i couldn’t just pick one or two or three lines to say excellent so i picked all – excellent! …i liked your freedom here and commanding appeal to me…. smiles…
Kelvin, thank you. Wow. I am so glad this worked for you.
Gut-wrenching imperatives. We must not forgive or forget the outrage.
You are so right, Viv,. We must not. Thanks so much for the visit & the read.
A superb, powerful – yet disturbing write. This truth of yours should be read by many.
Anna :o]
Anna, thank you. I really appreciate your comment.
This is turning the interrogator’s spotlight on him and his dirt – and it’s so well done! Brilliant.
David, thank you! We need to examine the examiners, and ourselves, for allowing this to happen.
Oh, my! This was so chilling – everyone has already said it, but it remains true. A punch in the solar plexus, reading this poem.
Marina==thank you so much.
i think we would disagree about the politics and the subject matter and justification, but the writing is superb.
Thank you, Mark.
😦 We don’t move society ahead by embracing the abuses we wish to eradicate.
No, we certainly do not. Shame, shame on us.
I think the key here is that you can get anyone to say anything under torture. So it’s a very high price to pay on society’s conscience for something where the effect is very debatable.
Very good writing as usual.
Björn
Yes, what we would inflict on another person is unforgivable.
Somewhat scary. Manipulations in science can be a challenge to counter! Nicely Susan!
Hank
Thanks, Hank. Sad, what we do, what we have done.