A lit candle behind thin bars. Photo: By Alan Bowman via Unsplash.
Poem: Making light of prisoners
'Good morning prisoners, our friend darkness / is here once more...'
Good morning prisoners, our friend darkness
is here once more, taking all colours
from your light.
What resides inside you may still be
blood and guts, pumping body and soul,
but your lights and offal, even in this place,
are up for grabs.
Our one certainty is, our best buddy,
the heart of darkness, will be here to give
your poor eyes a rest from those arc lights
used to question
your motives for disorder. See, you
are in the dark, take it as read (we know
you know Conrad), your peaceful protests
don’t sit well here.
The dark art of democracy insists
we keep all citizens under review; you are
as dangerous to us as the devils who knife
lights in the night.
Remember, you are all examples;
dance, sing and pray you become a silent
majority, but don’t cross our path with light,
our friend is darkness.
