Even the sun is scared of these iron bars.
She stays away
And my room is endless winter
Unchanging thoughout the year.
The shut door of night opens a chink
Dawn's light touches the ground
And the sparrows arrive without fail
To sing me a song each day
My only true companions.
To stave off malnutrition
And keep up my strength
I dine on watery bean soup and rice.
Come evening comes the celebrated
"Soup of a Hundred Leaves".
Then the thought springs to mind that
They might be cleaning out the moat
By the fence of the jail compound.
I can't bring myself to swallow down the muck And end up mounting a one-man hunger strike
16/10/88