Torture's Toxic Contagion

Torture’s Toxic Contagion by Odin Roark From where comes these perpetrators, These conscienceless mortals Whose senses are quashed by orders, By fear of demotion, By allegiance to evil? Who demands the allegiance To insulated Washington duplicity Puppets adorned in suits and ties of importance Astride fine leather chairs of authority? What right does evil have over good? Does assumed expediency have to trump integrity, Stealthily burying principals beneath the quagmire of incompetence, Adopting rules from coerced legal offices, Where procedural override of accepted war conduct, Creates U.S. atrocities into persecution’s bubbling vat waiting? How acidic this brew of orifice aggression must be. How explosive the brain’s chemistry must become. How malodorous the waft of this barbaric wretchedness must seem. Still… How easy it is to ignore that such bad behavior Is counter-international law, Subject to accountability To legal prosecution and punishment. Are we so glib with our conscience That we think “out of sight, out of mind” is an escape? For… Lest one forgets the pent up pay-back Festering in the shadows of the victims’ “to do” lists, One’s Machiavellian innocence may not even see it coming… What ever their choice might be. Torture’s toxic caldron continues to be stirred, Too few daring to taste the fiery recipe before being served What might be truly the last supper.