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 