Winner of the published poets section of the Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature Robert Burns Poetry Competition
The Captive’s Song (for Ilhan Ҫomak, on Day of the Imprisoned Writer)
To be banished, boots thrust in belly and back,
shoulders dislocated —
simply to keep you down —
tear out your tongue,
circle cold concrete,
cracked paint, mould on a wall.
Impoverished. Imprisoned —
and yet, Poet, in your solitary cave,
diligently refining, redefining resilience;
a musculature of words,
the activist’s inner ear —
non-violent resistance.
I want to offer solidarity —
affirm I oppose the terrible manner
in which you are oppressed. But even as I lift my pen,
your marvellous, life-affirming poems
arrive on my threshold; fertile images of sky and sun
from your sunless, skyless cell —
humbling emissaries turning the tables;
Wake up, I hear you urge, gently. Unlock
your jaded windows and doors; Open yourself
to the extraordinary freedoms of your ordinary day.
