Extraordinary Renditions

The voices in Extraordinary Renditions come from the deep past when war began; and span the centuries to the present moment, with war still raging around the globe. We hear the ancient story of how violent killers became heroes and then saints, how the picture of torture became an icon to be venerated– salvation achieved through the instruments of pain and death. The Greek word “martyr” means “witness”; in these poems the voices of victims speak in their own words, the disappeared and nameless dead tell their stories. Many of the poems relate speech directly from news sources, and recreate context to amplify those words so they can be heard and remembered. Each reading reveals new layers of meaning, echoes and soundings that will linger in the ear and raise a call to action against injustice, hatred and fear. As the Russian poet Joseph Brodsky said, “Poetry is … the only form of moral insurance that a society has.”