ABOUT THE POEM: “Ronie’s First Drink” is a powerful testament to survival and physical self-reclamation after a period of extreme deprivation and confinement. The poem contrasts the "cage" of the past with a planned, defiant first drink—not of alcohol, but of a hyper-nutritious, protein-heavy elixir designed to rebuild the body. It captures the author's refusal to remain a withered "shade," aiming instead for a future forged by discipline, far removed from the passive 'softness' of surrender.The day I break free from this cage, this jail,
my first drink won’t be a sorry tale.
I’ll boil two liters of rich, creamy milk,
stir in a quarter-kilo of supplement-Cadbury’s Silk.
No more fat; I refuse to stay soft as a MILF.
Then toss in two packs of biscuits to the steaming mix.
It wasn’t a standard sentence, no ordinary cell-
to savor a meal, or breathe deep air, or sip water? Pure hell.
What else to fuel this fire, quench the gnawing ache?
The nutrient void dimmed my sight, left my body half-broke.
Joints creaked like rusty gates; I withered to a shade.
So with this elixir, I’d devour a fistful of salted peanuts.
I won’t emerge as a bloated boil
or Bruce Lee’s coiled, iron guts-raw turmoil.
