ManicDDaily

Cheneyed Down (Caught on their Own Tenets)

They’ve not said the devil made them do it–
but then, they’ve not said a lot–
nothing about the clot
of what jismed through them
at the taking of another apart.

They’ve not said the devil made them do it–
They stick to the pact–
that old trade of soul
for power and largesse–
as well as their wished-for finesse
of a disproven alchemy–
that they might transmute the mess fluxed back
after water is forced through a tract
of head, lung, rectum–
(it didn’t matter up or down
as long as the subject was raped or drowned)–
into some gilded true-point tack
that might be pushed into a chart
where it would stick, smartly,
evolving into an expunged glory–
not, in other words, dissolving
with the rest of the spongy glut
of sputum, gore and gut wrenched up.

No, they’ve never said the devil
made them do it–
and, look, they took no prisoner
on an underworld tour–
one was simply tied down to the floor,
there dying not from fire but from cold–
nothing untoward–
What’s a couple of broken ribs,
dog-collared cardiac fibs?
Water water everywhere
(though not exactly drops to drink.)

They never seem to even think
the devil made them do it,
not able to see through
or past
their prop of big white hat.
How stupid is that?

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A draft–I insist on calling it a draft as I know if I read it again I’ll change it some more–

for Kerry O’ Connor’s With Real Toads prompt on Mephistopheles.   I am also posting to dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night.  

Process notes for those who are not familiar with U.S. politics–Richard (Dick) Cheney was Vice President of the U.S. under George W. Bush, and was and is a proponent of the use of torture (although he refuses to call it that) in intelligence activities.  George Tenet was the then head of the CIA. The Senate Intelligence Committee has recently released a bipartisan report, based primarily on direct CIA records particularly extensive CIA emails, that details the systematic administration of torture during the Bush years.  One of the most interesting findings of the report (based upon an undisputed chronology) was that all useful intelligence was gathered from detainees prior to any torture (or in the absence of it).

The photo is taken from the Huffington Post.  No copyright infringement intended.