FREED by Julia W. Prentice

As I sit and wait for healing after ankle surgery I have been thinking of freedom...

I have been thinking of being prevented from doing the living of the life I desire. And inside that wondering I explore the varied meanings of freedom, confinement and release...and so these words escaped.

Freed
by Julia W. Prentice

I am a freed prisoner from my own negative

As I run I doff my black and white

Shackles fall from my feet, making them light

Cuffs slip from wrists that wave welcome

Released from bonds I can almost float

Skim the earth, barely touching, glide

Through air that rings freedom’s bells

Hear them chiming future possibility

Shake a hint of doubt, regret and uncertainty

My feet find the path despite all these,

Leading a way toward refuge, to

Salvation promised me from long ago

There I rest, imbibe that

Chilled wine of no inhibition

Become drunk on freedom of speech

Blurt out reality that isn’t welcome

My hand unbound can take up pen

Use it like a chain-gang hammer

To sledge out the pain and release

Once-fettered joy that radiates

Out from loosened heart-strings

Hands draw the bow and fire

Arrows of once-tied remorse

To kill that negative for good

I am a freed prisoner

I can fly

Julia W. Prentice: A deeply feeling Cancer, Julia still has poetry from teenage years, when words were her salvation. She lives in California with her soulmate and a current furry companion. Former ASL interpreter, a passionate Peer Supporter of persons with mental health challenges, knitter, educator, crafter and singer. She writes like breathing: in ragged gasps, mighty shouts, half-voiced whispers. Always she is compelled to write. Finalist for ‘The Poet’s Billow’ Atlantis Award 2015. Published in the “Temptation  Anthology”, “Where Journeys Meet - The Voice of Women’s Poetry” and “Poetry As a Spiritual Practice - Illuminating the Awakened Woman”. You may connect with her via her blog here. 

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~