Poems from Guantánamo

The collection of poems written by prisoners held in the Guantánamo Bay detention centre, Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak has been released in the UK.

Among the 21 poems (by 17 writers) are what one prisoner etched onto foam cups with a before pen and paper was allowed. Shaikh Abdurraheem Muslim Dost was a Pakistani poet and prolific author before his detention. (The poems were scratched into the cups provided with lunch and were removed with empty plates by the guards after each meal. But Dost reconstructed them from memory after his release in 2005. Many were writers before they were detained and many are first timers. Most remain behind bars.

It was collected by Law Professor Marc Falkoff who has represented several of the prisoners. He noticed pieces of poetry or even completed works in the prisoners’ correspondence with him and decided to collect them.

Here’s one by Moazzem Begg (as quoted in The Guardian).

"Dreams are shattered, hopes are battered,
Yet with new status one is flattered!
The irony of it-detention, and all:
Be so small, and stand so tall."

The Guardian