"What the hell has he got to smile about?" the Oz guard snarled, jerking his head towards the heavy steel door. "We've had him locked up now for almost a fucking month, and we've been working him over nearly every fucking day. He should be broken; he should be begging for his goddamned life, but we haven't gotten a single worthwhile thing out of him! What the fuck is he smiling at?"
His younger companion only shrugged, feeling the other's frustration and rage without fully comprehending it. The older man seemed to take everything the prisoner did as a personal offense, especially when it was out of the ordinary, like now.
when friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep from singing?
Behind the two men, in the chill confines of the maximum security detention cell, a boy of no more than sixteen hunched into a ball in the corner between the unyielding wall and the floor, rocking slightly back and forth. His bones pressed sharply against flesh covered in a patchwork of bruises and cuts. His skin was flushed by the same fever that filled his eyes with a mad glitter. Those wide-staring eyes were fixed on the blinding overhead lights, the pupils distended almost to the point where the blue-violet irises were hardly visible. A once-proud mass of waist-length braid was matted and tangled beyond repair, tumbling over his gaunt shoulders and pooling against his knees where they were drawn tightly to his chest.
A brilliant smile was fixed on his face as he hummed to himself, pausing occasionally to mutter nonsense words in response to some voice that only he could hear. Violent, uncontrollable tremors wracked his frame as he rocked, turning his head slightly as if to track someone's progress, and he smiled.
In prison cell and dungeon vile
our thoughts to them are winging;
After a long time, the rhythmic swaying motion slowed, and stopped.
when friends by shame are undefiled
how can I keep from singing?
Gently, almost imperceptibly, the tremors eased into stillness.
Re: Break
Date: 2006-02-21 10:21 am (UTC)When tyrants tremble in their fear
and hear their death knell ringing,
"What the hell has he got to smile about?" the Oz guard snarled, jerking his head towards the heavy steel door. "We've had him locked up now for almost a fucking month, and we've been working him over nearly every fucking day. He should be broken; he should be begging for his goddamned life, but we haven't gotten a single worthwhile thing out of him! What the fuck is he smiling at?"
His younger companion only shrugged, feeling the other's frustration and rage without fully comprehending it. The older man seemed to take everything the prisoner did as a personal offense, especially when it was out of the ordinary, like now.
when friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep from singing?
Behind the two men, in the chill confines of the maximum security detention cell, a boy of no more than sixteen hunched into a ball in the corner between the unyielding wall and the floor, rocking slightly back and forth. His bones pressed sharply against flesh covered in a patchwork of bruises and cuts. His skin was flushed by the same fever that filled his eyes with a mad glitter. Those wide-staring eyes were fixed on the blinding overhead lights, the pupils distended almost to the point where the blue-violet irises were hardly visible. A once-proud mass of waist-length braid was matted and tangled beyond repair, tumbling over his gaunt shoulders and pooling against his knees where they were drawn tightly to his chest.
A brilliant smile was fixed on his face as he hummed to himself, pausing occasionally to mutter nonsense words in response to some voice that only he could hear. Violent, uncontrollable tremors wracked his frame as he rocked, turning his head slightly as if to track someone's progress, and he smiled.
In prison cell and dungeon vile
our thoughts to them are winging;
After a long time, the rhythmic swaying motion slowed, and stopped.
when friends by shame are undefiled
how can I keep from singing?
Gently, almost imperceptibly, the tremors eased into stillness.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
while to that rock I'm clinging.
Slowly, the glitter faded from those violet eyes.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
how can I keep from singing?