We are not prisoners
There are no bars upon our days
We are not pawns
and we are not enslaved

No grid constrains us
nor makes us walk its lines
nor forces us, through fear
to leave on lights against the night

We are not prisoners
There are no chains upon our thoughts
We’re not compelled
to think in boxes

No boundaries block us off
from realms we might explore
No lines of inquiry
can be forbidden

We are not prisoners
however fearsome the array
of shadow makers
designed to make us stay
within the lines of pre-established norms

Our deep completeness
still has the final say
and leads us, fearless
out to grander forms.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 13, 2014