Untitled

It was Guatemala in
the 1940's
and
in those days America sent some
doctors into their country.

They sent men in white coats
to give the Guatemalan people
syphilis.

They gave it to prostitutes
They gave it soldiers
They gave it to the poor,
They gave it to children.

They brought in an
orphan
girl
scared and
alone in the world
parted her legs
and gave her a disease
against her will.

Men in white coats who took an oath to
do no harm.

But it was the 1940's
and things were different back then,
America
hadn't discovered
the human value
of the Guatemalan people yet.

  America hadn't discovered
the human value of
the poor
the prostitute
the lowest ranking soldiers
and
its orphan children,
yet.

It is now 2011,
and I'm sorry
to report
America
is still working on it.


11'