About 17 thousand of us were taken
Only seven of us survived
The torture
I was only a local mechanic
But I was asked about my connections with the CIA
And the KGB
Of course I didn’t know these
I panicked
I told them anything I could think of
All the while in prison
I thought of the pregnant wife,
The life I’d left behind
But the torture kept me company
Electricity was drilled through my ears
It felt like fire was exploding in my eyes
My toenails were viciously torn out
I was once beaten for twelve days straight!
The Khmer Rouge are not human!
Then one day
Inmates of another prison were brought
Among them, my wife, and the son I never knew
The killing was to begin, then
Run! Run! Run! We made a run for it
But my wife and son never made it
Now the killers are being tried
They have mattresses, televisions,
Access to health care facilities in their prison cells
While in prison (cries) I didn’t have trousers to put on
Big people will always live better than we do
Even in prison
They say that we’ll get justice
We will never get justice!
I never trust the system
Where is my family now? Where are my wife and son?
The dead don’t sleep easy in Cambodia
Nor, still, do the living
