For Ashraf
For Ashraf
“Still Imprisoned”
28 July 2016
No news from you, brother,
though everyone else is making
much noise now
in your name
here, in this country of the heart,
this almost invisible place in space
everyone, but you,
of course,
you’re missing from the party,
they’ve lost the plot
in your country-of-the-silent
in this cursed place
where we are sent for our sins,
this solitary sin of being alive
of having a heart that beats
of having wings instead of claws
flesh instead of steel
a poem instead of a whip.
No news here, Ashraf
where i sit,
though all around me
everyone is calling out for you
“where’s Ashraf?” even the birds
here call out
and the dogs on the street shout
“how’s he doin’?”
“Is he bearing up?”
my soul asks too,
on this day, of all days
as if the frantic beating of
our collective hearts
and all the poetry in the world,
could set you free!
séamas carraher
“Still Imprisoned”
28 July 2016
No news from you, brother,
though everyone else is making
much noise now
in your name
here, in this country of the heart,
this almost invisible place in space
everyone, but you,
of course,
you’re missing from the party,
they’ve lost the plot
in your country-of-the-silent
in this cursed place
where we are sent for our sins,
this solitary sin of being alive
of having a heart that beats
of having wings instead of claws
flesh instead of steel
a poem instead of a whip.
No news here, Ashraf
where i sit,
though all around me
everyone is calling out for you
“where’s Ashraf?” even the birds
here call out
and the dogs on the street shout
“how’s he doin’?”
“Is he bearing up?”
my soul asks too,
on this day, of all days
as if the frantic beating of
our collective hearts
and all the poetry in the world,
could set you free!
séamas carraher
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