Price Of Freedom

Four tiny walls is where we call home,
Struggling to bundle up in a corner,
Maybe to find warmth,
Warmth in each other's skins.
Maybe to listen to the voices in our heads,
To listen to our faultering heartbeats,
To look in each other's eyes,
To see beyond the hurt.
A special cry for freedom.

Brian,
Hard as a chest but,
Eyes threatening to fall out of their sockets,
Walks with a limp,
His toes were smoothened with files as part of his punishment,
His left ear was yanked away.
Convicted of petty theft,
He's bound to be here for 3 years.
His wife, he says,
Laden with child; cannot walk,
And when malnutrition dared to rob her life and that of her unborn child,
He had to do the undone.
And now even if he's set free,
He has no one to go to.
Freedom is never free.

David,
Middle aged, strong and well built.
His tongue never sleeps, just slips,
He called the mayor a nincompoop,
A man of the night.
And now he has to watch as his weight goes to the drain.
He can longer desire to be a family man,
His punishment included chopping of his manhood,
Clipping of his fingers,
Pounding of his back.
He looks nothing much than a man struck with leprosy,
left for dead,
no passion for life.
The price of freedom.

Its my third day here,
Maybe I slept when watching news,
Maybe I didn't salute the police dog,
Perhaps I didn't pave way for the presidential motorcade,
Or maybe I called an honourable member by their name.
Maybe I talked too much in the name of people's rights.
Maybe I preferred to rot in here,
Than bathe in false sunshine.
No. I was convicted for reading.
Why is the price of freedom this high??

The story in the papers still fresh in my mind,
I read of dead men that walked into banks and came out heavy with money,
Of bird like women who are invisible to each other but handle huge transactions,
Men in suits hurled insults everywhere,
Grabbed lands.
Their children drink straight from honey pots,
Flaunting expensive rides,
Swimming in our daily sweat.
And all these walk their ways out of courtrooms if they manage to land in one,
The jury always ruling in their favour.
And we will rot in peace.
Freedom is bought,
And jail is for the poor.