{"id":10796,"date":"2021-06-27T18:05:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T01:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/?p=10796"},"modified":"2021-06-28T04:45:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T11:45:18","slug":"tributes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/?p=10796","title":{"rendered":"Tributes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Bath for Prisoners in Portoferraio<\/em>, 1890, Telemaco Signorini<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gerri Leen<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\nThe spaceship is cold, even through shoes\nNot nice ones, but nicer than we're used to\nMist drifts down the corridor\nAdding a damp chill as the aliens\nSuggest we hurry\n \nWe're already jogging\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtheir legs are so long\n \nThey have no weapons\nThey don't need them\nShows of strength have already been given\nEarth knows who's boss here\nEven if the aliens only destroyed abandoned things\n \nI take comfort in that fact: they didn't hurt anyone\n \nA door opens to a room thankfully\nLacking medical beds or anything\nReeking of torture or death\nBut then perhaps they have means \nBeyond the obvious\n \nThey asked for twelve of us: is that number significant to them?\n \nOne of them approaches, touching each of us in turn\nA firm grasp, but not painful, its large hand\nEasily spanning the width of our faces\nAnd I feel my fear fall away\nI stop it before it can move on\n \n\"Are you going to hurt us?\"\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhurt can mean so many things\n \nShould I have been more specific?\nBut it shrugs me off and finishes the line\nThen it turns to all of us \n\"Did you volunteer to be tributes?\"\nAs one, we say \"No\"\n \nOther aliens are crowding in, expressions impossible to read\n \n\"How were you chosen?\" the one who touched us asks\nThe others hazard guesses before we can answer\nA lottery? A contest of skill? Wrong place, wrong time?\nOr the alien version of that\n\"It was better than death row\"\nIt sits out there, my statement\nAnd the guy next to me looks down\n \nDoes he wish I hadn't said it? Does it make any difference?\n \n\"None of us pled guilty\"\nI know this; I asked my lawyer about it\nRight before I was taken away\nWe're the kind of prisoners that make\nThe system look bad when convictions get overturned\n \nBut I can see the distinction is lost on our captors\n \n\"We didn't do it,\" I want to say\nBut I can't be sure of everyone\nGuilty people protest innocence all the time\nJust like innocent ones make plea deals\nThe system runs on pragmatism, not hope\n \nThe aliens leave, all but the one who asked the questions\n \n\"You're free to go,\" it says with\nNo sense of irony apparent\nAnd a door opens in the side of the ship\nThe others flee but I don't move\n\"You wish to know why, tribute?\" \n \nIts voice is infinitely gentle, soothing even\n \n\"We learn everything we need to know\nBy how or if tributes are chosen\"\nIt shoos me away and I wonder if the aliens will simply\nLeave or if they'll destroy us all\n\"Not everyone's bad\" I say as I slip out the door\n \nIt's a whisper, a hope, a prayer, but is it the truth?\nAnd if it is, will it matter?<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gerri Leen The spaceship is cold, even through shoes Not nice ones, but nicer than we’re used to Mist drifts down the corridor Adding a damp chill as the aliens Suggest we hurry   We’re already jogging\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtheir legs are so long   They have no weapons They don’t need them Shows of strength have already […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10796"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10799,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10796\/revisions\/10799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}