Sonnet: On Conversions Poem by Dr John Celes

Give them knowledge and the freedom to change;
Starve them to death; keep them impoverished;
Keep them disease-prone, victimized in range;
Keep them enslaved, isolated, ravished.

See them in fetters for changing their faith;
Deny them their basic rights; oppress them;
Deny them water to drink and to bathe;
New leaves of aggression sprouts from each stem!

How long do tortured minds and hearts go on?
How long do harassed bodies withstand scorn?
How long do suppressed men `unfair-dress’ don?
How long do fellowmen live lives forlorn?

Conversion is the quest for the true GOD;
And starts within, unhindered by the rod.