By Ramzy Baroud – with Rafiq Kathwari

He sipped
then walked slowly
head held high
greeting the hangman
with a gentle nod
eyes sunk to heart
beard grew defiant
remembering the judge
asking to repeat
alphabets of servitude
Instead he roared names
of forefathers who too died
standing tall like the Himalayas
And on that last stroll
he remembered his
mother’s tender touch
his son Ghalib named
after the poet he loved
friends long gone
his silly dreams
heaven above
this playground
where unruly children
refuse to learn
the etiquette of captivity
in rooms with no windows
only high grey walls
where they pumped
petrol into his anus
to break Afzal Guru
countless others of
same skin and soul
His face the color
of parched earth
lips never ceased
reciting one last poem
the hangman swore
for God’s unruly children
to live forever Free

(Ramzy Baroud, Feb 13, 2013 – with invaluable contributions from Kashmiri-American poet and author, Rafiq Kathwari.)