A Red Flag of Hope by Maina wa Kinyatti Aloneness The cold chill of this life But you have been in my mind Throughout the season How long this night? The chains on my wrists and ankles Whisper horror in my ears The food half-cooked Thrown on the dirty cement floor The water contaminated My cellmates lice and bedbugs I have no other way to tell you How they mutilate my soul Every morning before the sun is awake Do you hear my cry? Can you feel my pain? The guards Have turned the prison Into a charnel house Neocolonial school has not taught them Those who torture and kill patriots Will one day pay with their lives I have nothing to offer you My love But a flag A red flag of hope 21 June 1982 Nairobi Remand Prison