Testimony Q [“[Redacted] as the Quality”]

Sophia Terazawa

                    “And as the quality of Vietnamese love differs from ours,
                                 so does the nature of their hate.”
                                                             -Susan Sontag, Trip to Hanoi

[Redacted] as the quality of loosening by wire,
          dirge by nation, yes, in spite of that

dethroned, I penned another—noun by operative
          function yanking from your hand—

Or loving back [redacted,] excavated, what was
          patterned? You can’t know for sure.

Comrade, every week of watching whittled for
          [redacted], what was functional

—alloy, red copper, or [redacted]—charging,
          blown into three pieces. Yes,

I counted. First, you stood there—as the quality
          [redacted]—differed from your nature,

I was sound and soundless, neutralized by query
          —how did you [redacted]?—

I was lettered, Q by spark, [redacted]. Second,
          I was kumquat for QUEBEC, a caliber

machine, thus you were loaded; third, [redacted]
          for its operative killing. My beloved,

as the quality of justice differs from your nature,
          so does qualifying nature of [redacted].

Write that down—a spectacle of trial—in which,
          falling sound and soundlessly [redacted].

1.          Has the Government [redacted] for aggression?
             Yes (conclusively).

2.          What was re-established by this action?
             You were all I wanted.

3.          If found guilty of complicity [redacted], would you—
             Yes.

4.          Have the Governments of the United States, [redacted], and [redacted], been complicit to
             inhuman treatment of [redacted] population?
             How could I misquote you?

5.          Is the Government [redacted] guilty of [redacted]?
             Comrade, please forgive me. You were all I wanted.

6.          Have the armed forces of [redacted] utilized [redacted] weapons strictly prohibited by
              international law?
              Yes (unanimously).

7.          And if so, on what scale?
              I learned orthographic letters—R pronounced as Zed—[redacted]. Whether your
             intention was [redacted], could you name me after trial? Somehow I chose to
             protect that in a poem. How could I misread you—R for radium [redacted], ROK,
             or recon—I was learning, but you could not name me.

8.          Have prisoners of war [redacted] by the armed forces of [redacted] been subjected to
             mistreatment by international law?
              Yes.

9.          Have the [redacted]—
             Yes (conclusively).

10.        And if so, on what scale, [redacted] for example, hospitals, [redacted], medical [redacted],
             monuments, etc.?
             Comrade, you were found repeatedly misquoted. I was faulty, calling you when I was
            weakest. Therefore, you were wanted.

11.         Is the Government of Japan guilty of [redacted] [redacted] by the Government of the United States
              against Vietnam?
              Yes (unanimously), after all, he was my father. You knew, too. Is that why you
             could hold me?

12.          Are the Governments of Australia, New Zealand, and [redacted], guilty of complicity in the
              [redacted] by the Government [redacted] in Vietnam?
               Comrade, you must know by now.

13.          Have the armed [redacted] of the United States subjected the civilian [redacted]—
               Yes. Why do you ask?

14.          Who is guilty?

15.          Have forced labor camps [redacted]?
               You were there. I saw you.

16.         Has there been [redacted] of the population or [redacted] tending to [redacted] which can
              be [redacted] as [redacted] acts of genocide?
               I felt you. How could you look back—pronouncing Zed—O, Priestess please have
             mercy on our souls.

17.          Cobra, red bird.
               You were there. I saw you burning. You were all I wanted.
          

Sophia Terazawa is the author of two chapbooks: I AM NOT A WAR (Essay Press) and Correspondent Medley (Factory Hollow Press).