This Prisoner Breathes

I am trapped in a jungle of voices In which I cannot spread my wings Even so, you insist that I take flight You will not set me free And are so offended by my point of view That you stitch my eyelashes closed You insist that I must explain the weather Terrorise my feet with echoes of chains You say that my desire to be free Is too much for your precious jungle Yet you set fire to the boat carrying my feelings Surround this sea of feeling with desert sand But listen! Whatever happens ... Suffocation, torture, desert or jungle This prisoner breathes [Translated by Nukhbah Langah and Lavinia Greenlaw]