Is it possible to be lost
and be tethered and bound?
Cinder blocks painted white
stained with sundered spirits
marred by broken hopes
Fence and razor and barbs
metal roses without petals
hold me tight in their bramble
Manacled and barred
Locked away from self
Stuck with the stranger
residing within my own mind
Is it possible for freedom
to come from confinement?
I wander hallways while
walking along midnight trees
I swim in Iske’s lake while
beaten by cold, metallic showers
I taste, oh do I taste,
Mother’s mashed potatoes while
I eat my portion of poor fare
Mahmoud I can see
how you found freedom
It is possible
for prison walls
to disappear
I found my freedom without keys
locked behind walls
Went on a journey through deserts
barren and desolate mindscapes
Held discourse with id and ego
emperors and poets
I came to know the stranger
as me and became
a stranger to myself