Oh Torquemada
hammer of heretics
light of Spain
saviour of your country
honour of your order*
we kiss your blessed ring
We kiss your white unctuous hands
that never shed blood
We your children
your zealous disciples
follow in your hallowed poulaines
We have selected waterboarding
--Like you we struggle
to keep our hands clean
Oh Torquemada
we have progressed so
You would be proud
Like you we combat heresy
one suspect at a time
but we've gone beyond
Our techniques are such
we've devised a way
--CO2 has replaced the soaking cloth--
to waterboard the earth
And the oceans are rising
*Torquemada was honored in such words by the kings of Spain.--M.K.
Marcelle Kasprowicz was born in Niort, France. She received an M.A. from UT at Austin. She is an Austin resident. She writes in English and French and also translates her French poems in English. In 2001 she was awarded first prize for her poem "House of Bones" in the Austin International Poetry Festival Anthology. She had her poems published in Ascent Aspiration, Farfelu, The Texas Poetry Calendar, Languageandculture.net (on line). She is the author of Organza Skies, a book of poems about the Davis Mountains of West Texas, published in 2005.
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