From behind bars (2) ; 16 March, 2024

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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