Wanting to be Free Again, a poem

I want to be

free enough

to feel

again

to let the

laughter

rumble in my chest

without knowing

so many lives

are filled

with tears.

I want to be

free enough

to feel

hope

and promise

and trust

without

worry

or fear

or pain.

It’s not

that I ever

had true freedom

like this, for

pain is always

visible to the

observant eye,

but the emotions

have overcome

like a tsunami

of unending unease,

a peeling back

of raw, unflinching

scabs

of truths

and hate

I wished did not exist.

I am undone,

overwhelmed

by the discourse,

but at the same time,

I know

that I must flourish

despite the infertile

grounds I share.

The seeds

which I have lain,

the words

in which I write,

the truths

with which I weave –

are my responsibility

and change

is always

but a breath away

from the strenuous fight.

(c) Sumyanna 2020