The CIA Cell of Belmarsh (a stark poem)
road.
sidewalk.
door, big door that crashes when it closes.
locks that click
front foyer.
wait
hallway, short hallway
kiosk.
hallway
empty pockets
surrender purse, knapsack
keys that jangle onto the hard surface
surrender all belongings
no belongings
and he does not belong here.
sign in, verify who I am
metal detection
wands wave over body
a pass through, a pass over
follow the guard.
back to hallway
hard heels on a hard floor
big door, heavy door
that locks behind
click
everything echoes
follow the guard.
hallway, big door that locks behind
then outside to “court”yard
hard heels on the hard surface of the concrete and asphalt outside
pace up to yet
another door, that locks behind
lets us back in
click
follow the guard.
no small talk
it is heavy
it is no small task to see this man
that does not belong here.
click click click click click of locks and heels on hard surface
guard leads left
turn to pace down another empty hallway
with harsh lighting
and shadowed walls
doors that slam, heavy
click
he is shut up in here.
he is shut up tight.
shut. up.
more heels on hard surfaces
down another hall, and echoes
this time hearing sound from humans in a room
chairs scraping on ancient floors
everyone competing to talk louder
like 37 radio talk shows competing for volume.
there is no possibility to talk
only to see a respiradone man
wasting away, hungry
on a plastic chair
in a flourescent room
with little food
almost no sleep
no books
no laptop
no ability to defend himself.
afterwards, he returns down his hallways
on parade with his guards
winding his way back
through his doors
back into the bellows,
the bellows of belmarsh
back to his CIA cell
cell number 37 in the hospital wing
where dignity is suspended.
human rights, upended.
and time is bended.
the atrocity is not that he reported the truth
the atrocity is the truth of the deaths
of the mangled limbs
and the lost children
the manipulation of men and women into funding and executing the destruction of the planet, buildings, fields, hospitals and humans
why is he locked up?
he is no danger to society
he is no danger to society
he is no danger to society
{This is me reading my dark poem back in October 2019} http://chirb.it/z4DLBy