India’s oldest political prisoner, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy, who was denied bail as his health deteriorated, died in Taloja jail. He had written this poem in prison. We publish this with all due respect.
Inside the daunting prison gates
All belongings taken away
But for the bare essentials
‘You’ comes first
‘I’ comes after
‘We is the air one breathes
Nothing is mine
Nothing is yours
Everything is ours
No leftover food thrown away
All shared with the birds of the air
They fly in, have their fill and happily fly out
Sorry to see so many young faces
Asked them: “Why are you here?”
They told it all, not mincing words
From each as per capacity
To eat as per need
Is what socialism all about
Lo, this community is wrought by compulsion
If only all humans would embrace it freely and willingly
All would truly become children of Mother Earth
Father Stan Swamy
(26.04.1937-05.07.21)
