Ode to death

I’ve moved from work place to work place,

continent to continent,

friend to friend,

lover to lover,

and in that passing

I’ve intruded, wounded and scarred

out of love or its illusion,

and have likewise suffered disfigurement

blemishes that I wear lightly

for landmarks fascinate me,

for signposts sketch journeys

and help chronicle the history

of the tracing of trails.

I’ve moved also from prison to prison.

Willing incarceration and resisted captivity,

also sketch a biography,

I have learnt.

And I have used the word

to register what some call captivity,

knowing also that my prison notebooks

are also songs of liberation,

that they make rain

a celestial drizzle

that slowly dissolves

all the rocks that burden your heart.

[From the collection 'The Underside of Silence', shortlisted for the Gratiaen Award 2008]

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