Peeling paint reveals
Islamic verse in unknown humours
The dirty cell, ramshackle
Bed, filthy blanket
His wife at home, in the dark
With tooth and tears the baby cries
For an unacquainted father
She sighs
Question, question, question
Bright lights beam in tired eyes
The corridor, screams in the twilight
The inquisition continues
How had he got here?
Black hood, American accents
Intravenous silence, take away
All thoughts of freedom
With fingernails and teeth, remove
All signs of resistance
Guilt by association
He crumbles
Inshallah. What do you know?
Nothing. Allah akbar
Is he? Where is he?
This belief is killing him
Softly, softly, hardly, hardly
Late night, early descent
Into the chamber of horrors
Doesn’t look like one, does ‘e?
Co co rico co co rico
The tactic changes. The rain
Beats on the corrugated roof
And he is elsewhere
Security, service interrupted
Freedom of the man in the street
Shattered, prisoners cut up with shards
For your health.
Published in 'Down in the Dirt' magazine.
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