Poetry deemed dangerous!

For centuries, poetry has been a staple of Muslim and Arabic culture and it’ll clearly take more than false imprisonment to quash the spirit of verse. Unfortunately, standing between the Guantanamo inmates and literary immortality is the U.S. government, and the current administration has never been noted for its literary prowess. Which is why, even though a book of 21 inmate-penned poems will be published this summer, an indeterminate number of others will remain classified. Because of its “content and format,” the Pentagon says, poetry is a threat to national security.

While he admits not having read any of it, Defense Department spokesman Jeffrey Gordon believes there is possibly something hidden in the diction, syntax or imagery used that could be nefarious. “I don’t think these guys are writing poetry like Morrissey,” Gordon offered.

Marc Falkoff, a lawyer for 17 detainees and the man responsible for the coming publication of Poems From Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak, says that, between being classified, confiscated, destroyed or lost, it’s impossible to know just how many poems have been written at the ‘Bay.

by Scott Saxon