Today, again, I claim my freedom.
I have to do it every day,
there are so many crafty voices
that try to whittle it away

Yesterday I claimed my freedom
to be a neighbor. To walk up to the doors
(and some of them felt ominous)
and knock, and introduce myself,
though I’ve lived here for years,
letting my silence overgrow like vines
around the house, binding me
in scarcely whispered fears

Today I claimed my freedom
to be unperturbed in traffic,
to be calm and watch the scene
like so many psychedelic windows
unfolding moving imagery,
and I was free to take it in
with no annoyance, no need
to tensely grip the wheel.
I let the day unreel
what it would reveal

Tomorrow, too, will have its opportunity
for me to further understand how I am free.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 30, 2016