This is a poem I wrote in my creative writing class next semester>>
Freedom
I met Freedom two summers ago
down by the lake at dark.
Poised on the dock, I dropped my towel
bare skin exposed to the humid air,
pressing in on me, suffocating my pores.
Heat from all sides bearing down on my flesh
pressuring my skin to produce sweat,
Oppression forming in the droplets of salted water.
I met Freedom when I took that leap
off the end of the pier, crashing
into the still water stretched before me.
Jumping into Freedom
bubbles hurried to the surface
each of my limbs suspended in a cool substance.
Engulfed in Freedom,
I flailed my arms and emerged.
Wrapped in Freedom’s refreshing embrace
I drifted from the shore to the center of the lake
Here, Freedom was all around.
I felt it as I lay atop her surface
knowing shore was hundreds of meters away.
A sizeable buffer between me and Oppression who lingered at the dock
hoping I would climb out of Freedom soon and return to his
stifling grip.
Oppression had been with me all summer
He was there every time I went to work
Every time I visited this lake
Every time I opened my mouth to sing.
His grip tightened on my heart
Every time he opened his mouth,
Every time I smelled him
Every time I saw him.
But now, Freedom was now all around me,
her wide expanse of liquid
in which I could tread, float, or plunge.
It felt nice to have so many options for once
and I chose to float aimlessly.
Fifty three feet deep, that Freedom was
and sixty nine acres around.
All of which was available to me, no restrictions on where my limbs could lead me.
Vastness,
was all I could think as I stared up at Freedom too,
where she was just as dark, but was adorned with pricks of light.
Filled with constellations
A breadth of shining lanterns
Leading me out of Oppression and his snares
And into Her gentle embrace
I was in the limitlessness of Freedom
who allowed me to dive to her depths, or skim her surface
or remain utterly still,
and revel in her coolness.
Freedom
I met Freedom two summers ago
down by the lake at dark.
Poised on the dock, I dropped my towel
bare skin exposed to the humid air,
pressing in on me, suffocating my pores.
Heat from all sides bearing down on my flesh
pressuring my skin to produce sweat,
Oppression forming in the droplets of salted water.
I met Freedom when I took that leap
off the end of the pier, crashing
into the still water stretched before me.
Jumping into Freedom
bubbles hurried to the surface
each of my limbs suspended in a cool substance.
Engulfed in Freedom,
I flailed my arms and emerged.
Wrapped in Freedom’s refreshing embrace
I drifted from the shore to the center of the lake
Here, Freedom was all around.
I felt it as I lay atop her surface
knowing shore was hundreds of meters away.
A sizeable buffer between me and Oppression who lingered at the dock
hoping I would climb out of Freedom soon and return to his
stifling grip.
Oppression had been with me all summer
He was there every time I went to work
Every time I visited this lake
Every time I opened my mouth to sing.
His grip tightened on my heart
Every time he opened his mouth,
Every time I smelled him
Every time I saw him.
But now, Freedom was now all around me,
her wide expanse of liquid
in which I could tread, float, or plunge.
It felt nice to have so many options for once
and I chose to float aimlessly.
Fifty three feet deep, that Freedom was
and sixty nine acres around.
All of which was available to me, no restrictions on where my limbs could lead me.
Vastness,
was all I could think as I stared up at Freedom too,
where she was just as dark, but was adorned with pricks of light.
Filled with constellations
A breadth of shining lanterns
Leading me out of Oppression and his snares
And into Her gentle embrace
I was in the limitlessness of Freedom
who allowed me to dive to her depths, or skim her surface
or remain utterly still,
and revel in her coolness.