Life Uncaged

The poem talks of a man who has served his many years within the walls of a prison, now left free into society, expected to wander and live in a world where no one is aware of his presence even.

It's a strange sense to smell,

the scent of a million yesterdays in this cell.

Curse my crime and release me for what I am,

This place is no longer for me to dwell.

 

Silent breaths be demanded,

On this path for those denied,

Cremate what’s left of being captivated,

For now I am done paying the price and I shall not abide.

 

He walks out standing tall,

Life is no longer what happens in the next cell wall.

Colours of his weakened eyes reflecting the open skies,

As the door shuts behind him begins a different kind of crawl.

 

Into the world anew,

Roaming these streets without a clue

There is a question what would you do,

If they served life in a platter, would you still see it through?

 

A house, A Home, A chant, A prayer,

I stop to think which to reach for, each one is so rare

Who knows what deserves to be first, should I even care?

I choose my destiny and I no longer scare

 

Silent breaths be demanded,

On this path for those denied,

Cremate what’s left of being captivated,

For now I am done paying the price.

 

The mirror speaks one day

They’ve left you broken beyond recognition,

To have no choice but to abide.

Written By Roshan Nair
 Copyright © 2015 Roshan Nair

Author's Note

The moments in the piece describe how he takes each moment, as the gates of captivity release into the abyss that is our world

Reviews

[Jamestown]

Fantastic writing again my friend, I really understand this feeling of once caged
and then not all to well, around my neck of the woods, we have a saying"you don't
have to live that way anymore" when someone is reliving there time served. Anyways,
great job, thanks for sharing and b-blessed!

[Roshan Nair]

Thanks a lot James, I appreciate you connecting with the emotion in the write. I thought of writing this after a few interviews I saw of rehabilitating inmates, it really moved me to see their condition, the young and the old. Thank you for the review my friend

[Valentine]

For someone to come out into the world after serving time for a long time would be like going to sleep when all that there were was a radio if a person was lucky and waking up to televisions, computers, cell phones etc. All would be changed, nothing would be familiar. Valentine

[Roshan Nair]

Yes Kathie, Its a wonder how they survive in such a world where all theyve known has experienced such a massive paradigm shift. Cheers

[Sami Khalil]

A captivating write about this captive soul. Each one of us have different approaches about gaining freedom. Some will go on a revenge campaign, some will blame the self and others and some will forgive and move on to a new beginning. Life is too short, freedom is priceless and every moment will are looked up is like death after death. An excellent write, Roshan...:)......

[Roshan Nair]

Thanks Sami! I agree with your perspective completely. I wonder if the mind in that state would be receptive to such a thought, its something that always perplexes me.. can the mind handle such thoughts of freedom, more often than not its the same freedom they fear. But if a mind can break free from the captive cage, there's no stopping upon the priceless things we can accomplish with the priceless phenomenon called freedom :) Cheers

[Sami Khalil]

Yep. You are welcome...:).....

[Emily]

Love the first line!
Well done!!
Great Write!

[Roshan Nair]

Thanks emily glad you liked it !

[~]

It a good meandering of a captive soul being set free. Your use of metaphors brings me closer to the struggle in this troubled mind. The questions are poignant and I can almost hear myself asking them if I was in his place. Thank you for sharing.

[Roshan Nair]

Thank you so much for your kind words .Im really glad you were hooked on the metaphors and struggle of the character. I appreciate your review. Cheers :)

[Coyote Poetry]

Powerful word and thoughts.'
"A house, A Home, A chant, A prayer,
I stop to think which to reach for, each one is so rare
Who knows what deserves to be first, should I even care?
I choose my destiny and I no longer scare"
We lock up people than they are marked. The prison can expand to civil life. I wonder if we could create a better place for people to reform. Not learn more bad things. The poem could be a book. A lot unsaid in the words. Thank you for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Roshan Nair]

I agree with you John, The atmosphere inside is barely anything that resembles a place where one can imagine reforming. Thank you for your kind review, I appreciate it, my friend

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome.

[Prashant Rajput]

wonderful work my friend...you've beautifully depicted the state of lonliness in the world,as the one serving his prison remains isolated and may lost his identity to the outer world.

[Roshan Nair]

Thanks man! I appreciate your review. Glad You could connect to the write. Cheers :)

[dan]

Roshan, this calls to mind what some believe to be known as self-imprisonment; the idea that we impose our own walls around our existence, keeping us in but, more importantly, keeping others out. These self-made cells protect the world from our foibles while protecting us from our fears and disillusionment. Much the same as hiding our true selves behind masks, false fronts. We all do this to some degree...the common thought of real imprisonment is being confined by one's self, while it really is more of a 'survival of the fittest' pack mentality in which you either fit in or become marked for extinction. The reality of being institutionalized for a long period can lead to being the only life this person knows, and the freedom is even more confining than the bars and razor wires ever were. Very nice thought provoking piece. take care...dan

[Roshan Nair]

Thanks dan, I really appreciate the introspection and insights you brought out in the review. I am amazed at the connection you drew with the mental validity of the emotion at an everyday-level. Thanks for reading and reviewing my friend. cheers

[Rene Salinas]

It is a difficult journey this one as in the reading.

Obviously it would be hard to think that an inmate would have this poetic sense. I'm not sure if you have looked at the statistics but over here in the U.K it stands at 58 per cent of prisoners released from under 12 months’ custody re offend and the numbers don't change much after that so they stay at 45% -50%.

Obviously none of this lovely "chaps" had that unraveling semantics that you are offering. I'm assuming you know this, so then I think I would be invited to entertain a different set of imprisonment dimensionality.

The language through words is inviting and descritptive, it seems that the captor also has an acutely developed sense of smell, and sight again I'm assuming the logic there would be than rather than atrophy all the years of captivity served to developed in exaltation rather than dissociation.

This to me speaks more of a new beggining from within the prison of ensoulment rather than a physical prision.

Embellishing language.

Thank you.

[Roshan Nair]

Thanks rene, Im glad you liked it and yes, this is a peculiar dimension i have brought into light and not a generalization.. I was greatly moved by a news special sometime back when I wrote this that described the literal plight of the released and how tough it was for them to come to terms with their new surrounding world. The points you make are certainly valid. thanks for the review , cheers

[Raja Anjana Kothapalli]

Wow! This peom is too good! Once I have started reading, I could not stop till the end. And after that I read once again and then once again.

Deep, unique and gripping write, Roshan Nair! You have beautifully expressed every moment of his journey. Kudoz to you.

Thanks for sharing.

-Anjana

[Roshan Nair]

Thanks anjana, glad you liked the expression of the characters plights. I know its a sensitive subject to understand, glad you caught what I was going for :) cheers!

[AaronFreitas]

I can only imagine what it feels like to walk... especially for a lot of people who have no one or nothing to go to. That prison life becomes the way of life because you lose touch with the outside world. Good work!

[Roshan Nair]

Thanks Aaron! Glad you could get into the essence of the write. I appreciate the review! Cheers