Six Inch Syringe

Six Inch Syringe

Restrained at four points
Right hand, strapped to the
Undergirding of the gurney
Left hand, strapped also.
Unable to scratch any itch which might arise
Left ankle, strapped

The torrid, dusty, highlands of Nicaragua
The grief of the mothers of the heroes and martyrs of the revolution
Los Angeles Emergency Room terror (where this happened)

THICK LEATHER AND METAL
The sounds of agony coming from other patients? detainees? prisoners? survivors?
Right ankle, strapped
A meeting of the Sandinist Defense Committee
Here came the six inch syringe
Closer
Closer
First, sweeping over my thorax
to the right
then to the left
I was deliberately made to believe
That at any moment it might be plunged into my body
Definitely brandished like a weapon
Embolisms on my mind
Then to the right, again
I lay, helpless and terrified,
The imminence of death
The terror of medical expertise turned against humanity

D. H. Kerby
Philadelphia, PA
American Red Cross