Today I begin
Step by patient step
To teach myself my freedom:
Freedom from fear—
For you are not the monsters
The news has said you are
Not waiting to attack
Not waiting to censure
You, like me
Are just waiting for a sign
That if you look to me
I will not pounce
I will not ignore you
I will welcome you in.
Freedom from judgement—
For it was never my idea
To mind the way a person smells
Or how they move or how they sing
Or what they like or what they wear
We’re made to breathe
In one breath of acceptance
In grand co-mingling, everything we are
communicated thus through all our senses
Embraced and celebrated
Brought in from afar.
Freedom to move—
In circles swift expanding
Beyond the cage in which I thought I sat
To touch in fearless care and understanding
And feel the waves of love
Encircle us at last.
©Wendy Mulhern
January 25, 2012