INTO AN ALLEY CLOSED TO TRAFFIC

Invisible from everywhere except the sky
the speakers and their voices
recede down a narrow flight of wooden stairs following
an angry mindless shriek and a low strangled rattle
neither sound interesting enough to disturb anyone—
accountability was beyond examination

Buried child, ticking bomb, coercion and the nature
of the adversary involved—since extraordinary rendition
offered a stronger and more coherent conceptual framework
torture was the next step—this was one of those grotesque situations
when everyone was right, a priori and beyond consequence