Freedom

(from Within My Illusions )

I do not know what it feels like
to be trapped in my own skin,
confined by a structure
that doesn’t seem to fit,
resigned to getting through one more day,
trying to make the best of it.

I wouldn’t be able to describe the sensation
of trying to smother a rage
that burns so deeply
it feels like I am waging
a war upon myself,
suffocating flames of a fire
until what’s left inside
is only the hopeless smoldering
of an unfulfilled dream. 

I couldn’t tell you what it’s like
to be silenced or shamed,
bullied or blamed,
discarded, disregarded,
ignored, deplored,
minimized, despised
just for being
alive. 

But I can stand at the edge
of the earth and the sea
and the sky, watching
the feathered creatures fly
as the sun takes its evening dive,
and imagine what it feels like

to be free.