Behind the iron bars
the shadows make a pattern
on your face,
I can’t see hope in your
glassy eyes and faith
has long walked away.
You are but a shell
discarded by the sea
on this inhospitable shore.
You have been made an example,
a deterrent, they say;
for your brothers and sisters
to stay away.
Now your persistent,
accusing stare
at the heartless nation of privilege,
disrobes us of false pretences
and of any remaining vestiges
of humanity.
