Prison
written by: Pek-êng Koa
translated by: C. J. Anderson-Wu
Dark clouds shroud the moon; prison trees ensnare the soul
Four iron walls
cleave the world into two
hell and heaven
Here, basic human rights
are devoured alive, word by word
Here, the codes of law
are stomped into pieces, clause by clause
Here, humanity is trampled, squeezed, and exploited
Here, thought is twisted, smeared, and made foul
Glimmers of fractured dignity
sink into silence, drowned in slop
Disciplines and rules
loom like towering monsters, fanged and ferocious
An authoritarian routine, the repressive propaganda
is replayed again and again, staging
a history too shameful to face the light
A pair of handcuffs ends freedom
Shackles at the ankle lock away personhood
Evil power splashes like spilled ink
Dreams stack into crumbling walls
On the collapsing wall, a notice proclaims
the soul’s terminal illness
A trembling, withered arm
enters the final combination
of the safe for the confined spirit
letting wind and rain wash over
what breath remains
to greet the sunlight
