Poems by Abdur Ambrose Snr

Cellmate Silence

 

The bars hum softly in the night

A lullaby of iron and fright

I count the cracks along the wall

In this small space, I feel so small.

The world outside, it moves so fast

While here, the minutes barely pass.

My name replaced by numbers cold

A life forgotten, stories untold.

In silence I remember days,

Before the chains, before the maze.

But now I live in concrete dreams

Where hope is found in muffled screams.

 

Letters I Never Send

 

Dear Mom,

I’m fine – though that’s a lie

I hide my pain with hollow pride

I write to you on paper thin

But never mail what lies within

My words would break your heart in two…

So I keep quiet, just for you

But every night, behind these walls

I hear my soul’s unanswered calls

This place, it strips me to the bone

But thoughts of you keep me from stone.

So though I never send these lines

Don’t you worry sweet mother of mine.

 

The Yard

 

The yard is where the days bleed slow

Under the sun’s relentless glow

We pace in circles, ghosts in flesh

Caught in a loop we can’t refresh

Some talk, some laugh, but most just stare

At freedom’s tease, beyond the air

I see the sky but touch the ground

In chains that echo, tightly bound

Yet here amid the dust and sweat

I search for moments to forget

A bird flies by, its wings are free

Reminding me what I can’t see.

 

Guilty Unit

 

The gavel fell and so did I

Judged before I could testify

They said, “Guilty” in a crowded room

But never heard my soul’s own gloom.

The truth got lost in echoes loud

A lone voice swallowed by the crowd

And here I stand, behind this gate

A life defined by someone’s hate

But deep within I hold my light

I’ll fight for justice day and night

For though my body’s locked away

My spirit rises come what may.

 

Time Moves Strange

 

Time moves strange inside these walls

It slows to nothing, then it falls

Minutes linger, days stretch long

A broken clock that ticks all wrong

I measure life in court dates missed

In holidays without a kiss

Seasons pass but I don’t see

The world outside’s a mystery

Yet in this haze I search for grace

In every face in every space

For even here with nothing left

I hold to love my soul’s last theft.