There is a prison in Iraq.

A place full of desolation and the maimed.

That place of shame; it has one name.

The name is Abu Ghairb.

The truth of what happens there weaves in and out.

Many try to bury and hide it.

But we all know that all that is hidden will be forced into the light,

Its nudeness will be shown, so don’t try and deny it.

Men and women guard this prison.

Honor and righteousness they uphold, but has been forsaken.

Such extreme symbolism is shown of their abuse.

It is when they forced their prisoners to be naked.

There was a soldier standing in the doorway of a cell.

His feeling of authority was submissive and great.

I wonder how great his feeling of superiority was?

Especially when he commanded the prisoners to masturbate.

The scars of sin and shame are there.

Even if we try in our foolishness to hide them.

Oh, what glory and righteousness we uphold in ourselves.

Do we not know that in denial it is ourselves we condemn?

The government says not many are as they were.

It does not reflect the “goodness” of our nation.

Behold, any of us are capable of such an act.

In denying the truth, it is ourselves we have condemned and forsaken.

There is a prison in Iraq.

A place full of desolation and the maimed.

That place of shame; it has one name.

The name is Abu Ghairb.

*This poem is inspired by the prisoner abuse in Iraq from October 2003-March 2004 and is written in acknowledgement, even as there are those that try to deny what happened*