16 March, 2024
FROM BEHIND BARS (2)
The world as my witness I assign :
In this jail languish I by design;
Many times here have I come and gone :
Yet, now stay I on as an inmate lone.
Into defeat the mightiest shalt be propell\'d :
By a devastating blow shalt they be fell\'d;
Imprisonment is the price I have to pay :
The hordes my writings finally shalt slay.
High are these walls : yet higher might they rise :
Over me dozens more jailers well might surmise :
The chain reaction doth burst out beyond control :
This vain detention shalt only serve as petrol.
Outside these walls have I wander\'d :
Inside this place now have I totter\'d;
To this lot have I lectur\'d many times :
Now they wonder what be my crimes.
For this war, what a terrific price to pay !
For clearing my name in this terrific way,
The enterprise had to be without parallel :
Outside, on all lips these writings do dwell.
For long might last my own nightmare :
Shame shalt be for my foes the fare;
To launch this unforgiving forage I dare,
Even if the dark dungeons I have to share.
***
Lunch hath chang\'d, dinner hath chang\'d :
For this hell snug home have I exchang\'d;
DINNER AGAIN, announce the clanging bins :
That be the fare of the vain ragamuffins.
Like animals do we queue up yonder :
What\'s dump’d into our bowls is DINNER;
\'Pon the very ground is plac\'d the fodder :
In the cold, in rain, everyday we shiver.
Another dawn rises : another day in hell :
Ah, for how long more, for how long more !
For how long should last this strange spell :
So slow are they over the evidence to pore !
Another dusk falls : another night of misery :
Ah, for how long more should last this mockery !
Dinner at tea time : lock-up at dinner time :
A man\'s innocence must be as good as crime.
For how long more, for how long more :
From the hard couch have I turn\'d sore;
But, I know a myriad are scrambling yonder
To avoid rending this poor heart asunder.
With the scum am I forc\'d to jostle :
But, at my works many I hear whistle;
From far off I hear the thunder rumble :
Many might find all this too hot to handle.
***
I will face multitudes in many lands :
To the firing squad, I raise my hands;
Ah, what a shame, this here bloody food :
But, my enemies shalt know a worse mood.
And, whatever be the price, it must be paid :
Whatever the cost, I shalt not at all waver;
At the door of justice this endeavour is laid :
At these works many shalt shake and shudder.
Some might be slain that are innocent :
\'Pon revenge the hordes would be bent;
Indeed might have to be paid a terrible price :
But, \'tis all worth it, a myriad times thrice.
With the world again I would be re-unit\'d :
Voices cry out there, hands reach out for me;
We will fight out in the open, for all to see :
Shalt ne’er be put out what I have ignit\'d.
I still wait in silence behind these bars :
I know hell hath everywhere broken loose;
No, there shalt ne’er be from me any truce :
My works shalt shine forever, like the stars.
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