FREEDOM

Freedom is a choice
internal, made even
if handcuffs chaff your wrist
or bars stare back at you
in the night--you can 
be caged without being
caged; imprisoned
without being in a prison
freedom starts in the mind
and settles in the soul
no one can keep you
locked up against your
will; that's what made
Malcolm X so dangerous
even in a state-owned
bed-and-breakfast
Freedom comes when
you choose life
for every part of your
existence and refuse
to bow to the forces
that try their best to claim
you; it's why people
who were on plantations
(who other people called "slaves")
could sing with conviction
"before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave"
only those who think
freedom is in someone
else's hand think
that song was a lie.
But freedom--freedom
is a bird set loose
from a gilded cage
door flung wide
and wings spanned
upward, always
always upward to
the only place that
belongs to anyone
who claims
themselves
alone.

Valerie Bridgeman
© August 24, 2013