Until we can die to the past
and dream our own dreams,
we are held hostage
to demands and expectations
not our own.
Not to run away, but
to say, The past’s lessons
instruct, but do not ordain
a future—decree another’s will
must prevail.
Held hostage by demands
fueled by love and piety,
blood and expectation,
dutiful recompense for the gift
of having breath
and continuing to breathe.
To say "No," simply,
and walk a path not charted
by its distance or closeness
but by its honesty.
[First Draft]
I think this one might join “Vision Stalker” as one of my favorites of your poems. Please let me know when you have a revised version. {SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
I am not sure how long it will take to polish it. The poem is going somewhere, unlike a lot of my stuff, which is descriptive with an edge or an angle. It’s a reaction to something one of my LJ “friends” was writing about. It’s scary, realizing how many people go through life taking their identity and worth only from others, afraid to let it go for fear that they themselves will dry up an blow away like so much dust.
I understand. Polishing and revising takes time, and you won’t have much to spare this month. {SMILE} Just keep me in mind when you do get around to it, even if that takes a while. {Smile}
You’re right that is scary to think about. It’s all too easy to value what others think more than we really ought to. {rueful smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin