Man Refusing food

This one relates to my activities among people in prison

Man Refusing Food

 i knew him

           man alone

leaving the cruel

air signed

with his cries...

slow

pained movement

to his closing

breath...

man refusing food

mortality

crucified

by predatory state...

it took a long time

they watched

all they did

was watch

him fade

into waiting shadows

i knew him

i remember

him now...

in winter where

snow gilds

skeletal branches

as a malignant

illness,

leaves

fallen, frail,

yes

i remember

his final

rage

then he

fled forbidding

prison walls,

darkness gathered him

in his frailty,

final freedom

in the waiting light

George Coombs

Author's Note

Relates to my work among people in prison, i knew this man