Big Brother

my big brother
throws
olive army men
on searing rods

he calls it
torture

we play good guys
bad guys
in the yard

forts of sand
machine gun mouths
olive army men
toppled, scattered

Americans
the good guys

no, my big brother said
no good guys or bad guys
just situations

decades later
another word
interests

olive army men
faces, arms, legs
melting, dripping
plastic sizzling
on red coals

torture, he said
we needed information
no good guys or bad guys
just situations
interests

decades later
waterboarding
sleep deprivation
Abu Ghraib
Guantanamo Bay

mouths gasping
naked humiliation
bodies melting

sizzling
on the coals
of America

no good guys
no bad guys
situations, interests
security, security, security
security, security, security
no good guys

years later
new year
crisp breeze blows
across the sand

on capitol steps
new president
"Our security emanates
from the justness of our cause"

sizzle and stench
fades...fades...fades
crisp breeze blows
across the sand