Solomon Northrop, a freeman, was abducted
And sold into servitude 173 years ago this month
For 12 years he labored a prisoner in slavery
Before finally being set free.
Slavery, the black stain on the American soul
Makes one’s blood begin to boil
Shaker Aamer twelve years ago today
Was cast into our black hole in Guantanamo Bay
A prison beyond evil created by terrified little men who saw
A sequestered place beyond the reach of law
A black hole for warehousing and torturing detainees
Away from spotlight of transparency
Where justice and due process did not pertain
Where many innocents still remain
Uncharged of any crime
But incarcerated and doing unwarranted time.
Shaker Aamer and others, in Guantanamo have spent
Years in limbo from their families rent
Wondering about children and family for whom they cried
Waiting for American Justice unconscionably denied,
Just as slavery an unjust institution was eventually abolished
Guantanamo must be closed and our image polished
This hideous interlude in our national nightmare
Must be gone to show we care.
For the irony is that the evil bringing down the twin towers
With death reigning down in horrific showers
Induced men with no belief in the rule of law or the constitution’s words
To destroy our own justice system and fall on our own sword.
So Guantanamo’s existence is a continuing blight
Negating the good in America’s might.
Men like Shaker Aamer must be charged or set free
Not only for them, but for you and me.
HP Charman MD 1-11-14