SHACKLES
She touches
The great expanse
Of her majestic wings...
Are they clipped?
Is she a prisoner?
She wonders...
But they seem
Untouched, pristine...
The door is ajar
Her freedom calls
Out to her
The music of the
World outside
Like the Lorelei song
Lures her,
Mesmerized,
She swoons almost
In a trance
Escape, a step away...
Yet as if shackled
She stays rooted
Shivering, frightened
The walls of her caged mind
Cave in...
Holding her close
To their diabolic bosom
They whisper to her
“Don’t leave”
The darkness inside
More visible
Than the light outside
She looks at her
Long-time companions...
Pain, Hurt, Fear,
Cowardice, Doubt...
United they look at her
With accusing eyes
“How can you?”
They screech in a chorus
A momentary flash
Of guilt crosses
The thick haze
Of her thoughts...
The song and the light beckons
She takes a faltering
Step forward
Her heart engaged
In a tug-of-war
Shutting her mind
To the mournful cacophony behind
She spreads her wings
Swooping towards
The light
Its dazzling brightness
Blinding her
“I am free”
She shouts out
There is no answer...
A sudden loneliness
Grips her
Euphoria buckles under
The heavy fear that
Settles on her shoulder
She turns her back
To her liberation
Her bondage too strong
It’s vice like hold binding...
Settling in her
Comfortable perch again
Her eyes are drawn
Towards the new dawn
Perhaps another day...
Another lifetime...
For that door is ajar
Always...
