Freedom in a Prison Cell

for Amado

Will the ink run dry?
Will your words be forgotten?

The ink flowed freely
The pen was your gun. So you were
shackled. Inside the prison.
where you cannot see the sun
the fire within burns,
your heart was trained
to master your mind, suffering
confirmed what you wrote—
stinking prison, poison disguised
as food.
You slept and dwelt with the insects
Of the dark.
But you remained alive, alive…

The ink flowed freely
The pen was your gun.

So long as the poor plow and till
the land
So long as the wicked rich burden
the farmer with an iron yoke
So long as the hallowed Congress inscribe
laws in the name of their own interests
So long as the millions remain
Oppressed and ignorant

Your ink shall flow freely
Your pen will echo its shout…

The prison cell vomited you
It cannot contain you…

A heart of light breaks
Through the dark

Your ink shall flow freely
Your pen will shout.