Rounding off
Content Note: References to imprisonment, mental health struggles, dissociation and long-term survival.
His mind is imprisoned in a cage.
He is framed by sentences—
handed down by strangers.
He is alone,
even though other voices fill his head.
He is unaccompanied,
even in the crowded cell.
He argues among them:
which conspiracy shall we conspire with?
He has the freedom
to sit with his selves
and hear who yells loudest.
He has the freedom
to wait and see
who wins today’s war—
for tomorrow,
it all begins again.
He paces round the cube,
rounding off the four corners
of his heart,
soul,
spirit,
and body.
He perspires beads of knowledge—
lessons from troubled travels,
not so long ago.
And while he circles,
they circle above.
They spy
the carcass
of his joy
and humour.
