Freedom to Ask

Written wondering how many people know what it really means to be Free... yes it's a rant :) ahh well !

In which underhanded incantation of how one must live
did we create what lay laughing apathetically before us?

'This is life' we chant
'This is life' we cheer
Oh come on fools!
As a society we have chosen to
Imprison ourselves permanently behind cold steel bars
Imagining possibilities but denying ourselves the opportunity
Observing at a distance the underlying moral code
waving at us in condescension, laughing quite hysterically
at our banal interpretation of how one must live

Easy it is to blame society
I place the blame on you -
you sold your soul
I hoped you fetched a worthy price
the buyer now flits in and out of freedoms that were once your own

Order, order!
There must be an aim for unequivocal order
Restraint for those who aspire to scratch the protected surface of the 'system'
Oh yes, just 'scratch the surface'
We all know big brother's chameleon is perched on every shoulder
Shhhhhh!
You must never embark on the road of questioning .....
Never ask why we must remain as caged birds ever seeking the freedom of flight?
For you will be
Chopped down, as quickly and as silently as a machete at task in a lonely poppy field

The system has grown too strong for the tiny whispers to be heard
Yet, collectively those tiny whispers could indeed
breathe new imaginings into this dreary, clouded mechanical state of existence
Is it the collective that pierces the heart with the ancient sword of fear?

Those who posses the power of change
are too busy bowing in a river of false courtesies
too frightened to lose the vote to reclaim the chair
where they are manhandled as the marionettes they choose to be
Warriors seem like a long ago myth,
their stories are dying as we now have no ability to compare them with belief

'This is life' you say
When the very thing called economics, driving every nation
we cannot feel, we cannot touch
yet it possesses every last gasp of air in the here and now
Suffocating us with the desire the need to want more, more, more
To bathe in a luxury of fulfilling our overstated material desires
Never to understand 'when is enough'

It's all a distraction you know
Yes
That's what I said
A Distraction!
Each of us is on our own journey to freedom
Yet we get distracted by the illusion
We choose to sing on the clouds of 'look at me, look what I have'
Waving eagerly to those wanting a taste of our self defining purchases

Funny it seems that it is only us humans who are distracted by the trivial
Nature continues on, asking for naught.

Are we scared,
Scared to step off of the carefully painted white line of sanity
drawn out by those who say
'Follow me, I may not know the way, but nevertheless follow me blindly.'
Following rules with such precision we have forgotten who we really are
Looking in the mirror
we see only the multiple layers of conditioning suffocating our beings
Conditioning cast upon us by those who are supposed to love us,
Adopted by many generations of culture and tradition
As if carved, shaped, buffed and polished to fit right where we belong
in this ethnosphere of the infinite imaginings that we have become

Freedoms we scream!
We in first world countries feel the luck of being born into stability
Silently witnessing those with ribs jutting out of chests in askance of food
Quietly observing from afar the trials of those we consider less fortunate -
Those who must find strength to fight simply to endure our rules each day
just to even consider themselves to be living
ever remaining with unseen hope and faith,
they are lucky
hope and faith may be purchased for free

How much more freedom do we possess than those with nothing but the hope?
None
That's right none
Placing ourselves in our own bondages of wanting and greed
Choosing to whine and complain in the hope
It will replace the boredom within the mundane
Accepting to run incessantly like a mouse in a wheel
not knowing, understanding, or questioning how to
get off this treadmill that we choose to call life
Buffeted along like a herdsman tending his cattle
Only to be rewarded with another fenced paddock after the days journey

We don't fight
The passion is there
We can all feel it
It is begging to be refueled, lit, encouraged
opened to the winds to create a firestorm of LIFE
Yes life!
Life was never intended to be kept in a little brown box locked up under your bed
Bought out only for special occasions.
Quick, hide it away!
The idea of seeing what may be possible tires me out just thinking about it -
Ahhh - Bring me a scotch, make it a double.

If only we choose to drop our fears
Know ourselves,
for the first time get aquatinted with the real you
A confrontation of sorts
face to face
with you
warts and all
misgivings, virtues
the beauty, the beast
It's all within us
All of it

Surely when one meets their true self
on a personal level
we can begin to understand
our own freedom
Sensing
that all we are required to do is
bequeath one's own wisdoms to self
Allowing us to bellow and roar
in unrelenting laughter
at the simplicity in knowing
freedom was here all along

We just needed find the time to ask

Author's Note

this poem has a long way to go - but looking for first impressions please :)
thank you in advance xx

Reviews

[A. Amos]

Again I love your messages, hints and advises in your poetry, I guess you mentions warriors we only read in stories and now long gone. So my dear friend you are a warrior too and your words are working, the problem people just try to find wisdom in stupid things. You are not only wise but you have strong eye on subjects and really I love your work as I can strongly tell you. You are one of my favorites here.
All the best

[KWP]

Ahaaa Mr A.Amos you are very kind in your words and I do thank you for that - yes I am referring to warriors from stories or people such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King, those who were not afraid to stand up for their convictions and those who knew clearly what true morality to other human beings meant.

[A. Amos]

I know if you ever get a chance visit my page and read Pain and Face Of God, you will understand why i truly admire your writting because you sensed out the issues.

[KWP]

you know what - as I was reading The Face of God (before you recommended it) I was thinking exactly that !!! Messages of strength, truth, warriors, we flow on the same eternal river :)

[A. Amos]

That is so true

[Einstein Noodle]

well! it certainly is a rant :) this phrase "...laughing apathetically" about a certain incantation we choose to proclaim as "the" life doesn't seem like it would be apathetic ... (probably just me) maybe mockingly would work better in your poem since all those false ideals and restrictive rules can delude us ..
you touch on a lot of things in the material world that fall so far short when compared to spiritual truth .. about ourselves and about the world around us ... it is a bit of a conundrum that when a group of people try to live in close proximity the need for a consensus on rules takes place rather quickly .. and yet the hunger for personal freedoms just as quickly come into conflict with those rules .. in the USA our Constitution and Bill of Rights is the greatest example in governments that defines that line .. however it seems to me that for decades of my life those freedoms are chipped away little by little using our own laws to do it .. i especially like your ending lines .. pointing out that knowing ourselves and accepting ourselves is a basic first step to find real peace, comfort and strength in an ever changing world .. ;)
E.

[KWP]

Thanks E ...yes - I believe when it was written I was rather emotionally charged ... always appreciate your feedback in int's many forms .. Thank you xx

[Frieda P]

You are a true butterfly warrior Betty, I hear you roar and see you soar in this one, so many layers and depth of context here, it's a real beauty with an endearing & brave message.

Life was never intended to be kept in a little brown box locked up under your bed

Indeed, we must face the beauty & the beast everyday, head on as your poetic words have here...Excellent! xo

[KWP]

hey chick, it be true you know, sometimes I feel the warrior in my just bursting out to be heard, instead i just rant on to my boys ... haha .. they get the best and worst of me ... thanks for reading this epic sista... sending love x x

[Frieda P]

I hear ya Betty, poetry is the best outlet, as for your kiddos, you get the best and worst of them too, so payback ;) MWAH! xo