Fifty-eight percent of the men and women at whom you smile while grocery shopping say the torture of suspected terrorists can be justified “often” or “sometimes.” Fifty-seven percent of the men and women who hold a restaurant door open for you say harsh interrogation techniques can provide information that can prevent terrorist attacks. Army Field Manual 34-52 Chapter 1 reads: “Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear.” And yet.
Archives for April 2017
Silo
April 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment
the year I spent eating
eyelashes suckling
a hangover hippocampus
slamming on & off like a stagelight
I couldn’t stop watching
that trashbag caught in a tree
pray for a break in the blight
how many people won’t
speak to you now
there was a silo I knew
that burnt down and what remained
was a cement ring this
is autopsy membrane
fixation in all my territory
I find so little tender
One Saturday Afternoon
April 3, 2017 by 2 Comments
I watched my mother
(Who had grown
All of her fingernails
Very long) choose
Not to dust or clean
The house that day
Instead she polished
Each pointy oval tip
A bright candy pink
Twice over then added
A translucent topcoat
And let them air-dry
While she eased back
Ignoring everything:
The kitchen, my father,
Even me, and leisured
To read Prisoner of Desire
On our old green sofa.
