KEY TO FREEDOM – Reena’s Xploration Challenge #257

THE KEY TO FREEDOM

Locked up again
Incarcerated
And behind bars
An unwelcome case of deja vu
These orange jumpsuits
And cold concrete surroundings
Were becoming all too familiar
Jason put up his feet
Sat back & closed his eyes
Like he was at home
Like…
This was the best he could hope for.
Ron leaned forward
(Hands resting on his lap)
With a glum; angry expression
On his furrowed brow.
The doors of their minds locked,
Like their bodies
Resistant to change
Incapable of breaking free
Chronically unable
To live a different kind of life.
Chris, however
Open book in his hand
Appeared content: determined
Smug almost
And completely engrossed
In his reading material
Until his eyes fixed
On one particular quote
Then it seemed like
A light bulb came on
And the lock opened
He suddenly realised
What he needed to do
To be free.

Should you wish to participate in the prompt then you can access it through the following link:

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/11/17/reenas-xploration-challenge-257/

Challenge = Change

POETRY: IGNORING ALL FRONTIERS IN ORDER TO CHANGE THE STATUS QUO

“All poets, all writers are political. They either maintain the status quo, or they say, ’Something’s wrong, let’s change it for the better.’” —Sonia Sanchez

“Poetry is like a bird, it ignores all frontiers.” —Yevgeny Yevtushenko

When I was younger I used not to think that I was, nor had I any desire to be political. In fact I would wince at the mere mention of the word or any insinuation that I should have any interest in it! Perhaps I was a bit naive?! Wanting to change the world, the way folk view poetry without entering the tricky arena of politics.

As I’ve gotten older; my writing style has developed and my view of the world has changed, so too perhaps has my opinion on politics. Like it or not or as corrupt as you think it may be, we are all involved in it, especially us folk who claim to be scribes. It’s all around us and part of our everyday lives from the moment we walk out the door every morning. Every poem we write is a political statement as well as an analysis of the heart.

Every time we put pen to paper, be it through prose; journalism; blogging or poetic verse or express any opinion on how we see the world through written format we are entering that realm. We are stating “I have seen the way the world looks/the way my heart looks and I have something to say about it: good or bad.” You either want to change it or not but you’re expressing an opinion either way! You’re putting your writing content; your reputation & your neck on the line whenever you put your written opinion out there. Especially online where it can’t be unwritten; crossed out or rubbed out with an eraser.

Which brings us nicely onto our 2nd quote of the day. Part of us doesn’t care about that as we want our voice to be heard. We want our opinion to be expressed. And maybe ruffle some feathers with our words and change people’s thinking in the process. As the pen is mightier than the sword! 👍

This is where poetry is key! It allows us to say things and unveil things that other forms of writing may not allow us to; to go beyond the boundaries society has set for us regarding what we can or cannot say. It allows us to be brave and free; free to fly and travel wherever we want like birds with words in our wings; to write whatever we want (within reason & without judgement) and paint beautiful pictures that can melt hearts and change the world.

STARING AT THE WALL

Kingdom’s rise
Empires fall
Buildings crumble
As progress stalls
We yearn for change
Yet complacency calls
Ring, ring; ring ring
The clock is ticking
While we stare at the wall
Tick tock; tick tock
Yet time doesn’t play ball
When illness strikes
And mortality befalls
Knocks us down
Reduces us to a crawl
It doesn’t make sense
To me at all
Yet we continue to remain
In life’s thrall
As around the corner
We’ll get a chance to scrawl
Our names on
History’s wall

IF ONLY

If only prayers and well wishes
could pierce the conscience
As bullets pierce the flesh
Prise the guns out of their grip
Before they pull the triggers
To eliminate the potential for death
If only they could change the hearts
of cruel dictators
Moving well beyond their thresh-
hold
If only…

Hold your hands together
Close your eyes tight
Get down on bended knee
You could set the world aright
You could set the people free
No longer live in fright
Or could we?

If only prayers
Could put out fires
Turn hijacked planes back around
Uncross wires
Remove all the misunderstanding
In the world
(Possibilities abound)
The rage that it unfurls
All, precursors to war
Which we abhor
If only….

Hold your hands together
Close your eyes tight
Get down on bended knee
You could set the world aright
You could set the people free
No longer live in fright
Or could we?

If only prayers
Could break through walls
Instead of bouncing off them
We would be in it’s thrall
Or tear down kingdoms
Push empires into freefall
Deactivate explosives
Before they are set off
Reactivate our composure
When tempers get hot
If only…

Hold your hands together
Close your eyes tight
Get down on bended knee
You could set the world aright
You could set the people free
No longer live in fright
Or could we?

If only prayers could cure cancer
Prolong our lives indefinitely
Makes robbers content for
What they have, not what they see
Remove all the greed in the world
Give us politicians who speak with honesty
Not the usual chancers
Who gleefully hog our TV screens
Restore the romance for
Old school values, we beseech

Hold your hands together
Close your eyes tight
Get down on bended knee
You could set the world aright
You could set the people free
No longer live in fright
Or could we?

If only prayers
Could bring dreams to life
Draw heart’s desires, long hidden
Boldly into sight
Remove the jealousy and envy
Simmering hatred and spite
From the avalanche of bad news
Offer us permanent respite
Draw us out of darkness
Into a new dawn of light. If only…

Hold your hands together
Close your eyes tight
Get down on bended knee
You could set the world aright
You could set the people free
No longer live in fright
Or could we?

Prayers
They offer hope, yes
But can they change?
Offers relief from stress
But can they rearrange?
This awful mess
If only…

REVOLUTIONARY RESOLUTIONS

Resolutions made
But unrealised
Promises betrayed
Because
You never tried
Same excuses replayed
As each year goes by
Revolutions waged
That have changed our lives
Because they stayed
True to the ideals
For that which they strived

Because….

Resolutions
Could become
Revolutions
If we had the
Courage to try,
The constitution
To apply
Ourselves
To deny,
Ourselves
To stay the course
They could change the world.
Or, at the very least
Your world.

You could see
New Beginnings
Unfurl
Before your eyes
Your head be
Spinning
In a whirl
In pure surprise
At the places
It could take you
And the ways
It could make you
Grow
Expanding your mind
And horizons
As you go

The ways
It could break you
If you won’t
Leaving you
Perennially stuck
In your comfort zone
With your bad habits
To which you are prone
Full of regret
The could have’s
And should have’s
All you have to show
For yourself
With “I’ll do it tomorrow”
Inscribed on your headstone

Maybe it’s time
For a change of approach?!
Less of the recriminations
And self-reproach
Every time you fall short
Of your personal goals
More of the “I can do this”
If you can coach
Yourself to take one day
And one goal at a time
Slowly but surely
You can begin to align
Who you are now
With who you want to be
With some help from the divine
Supernatural
Or whatever benign
Force
you have in your heart
Time to design
A plan
To change your life
Then
Onto change the world
The Revolution begins today.

EXCAVATING

My father and mother
God rest their souls
Just like my brother
Content to dig & plant
Watching it all unfold
Potter about outside

No green hands here
I’m afraid
No jack of all trades
No D.I.Y expert
With his hands on a spade.
Only weeds I pull
Are out of the sky
(In the form of words)
Like a magician’s sleight
Of hand.
Much to my wife’s chagrin
Who must wonder why
She ever aligned with him

Only digging I do
(As Heaney once wrote)
Is with my pen
Twitching. Clicking.
But never at rest,
Between my thumb
And finger
Always doing his bidding
While my gaze lingers
Lifting up the dirt
Excavating
For a nugget of truth
Devastating
Though it may be.
A sliver of light
Emenating
From the dirty sea
Of life.

Plant the words
On the page,
In reader’s hearts
Like they were seeds
In the hope they’ll engage
Water them with ink
Patience and time
Watch them take root
Change. evolve.
And blossom
Into the flowers
They were meant to be
Colouring the world around them
With their own distinct fragrance.

Unearthing our past
Understanding the present
Unveiling the future.

SOME FRIENDS

Some friends will come
Some friends will go
Some friends will stay the same
Some friends will stump
Some friends will grow
With you, while others will change
For the worst
Some friends will hold
Fast in the to and fro
Of life. While others will run away.
At the first sign of trouble
When you need them the most
Because they can’t handle the rain
Where your real friends
Will come to the fore
And walk with you through the flood,
The fire and the snow
Without fear or second thoughts
Of getting wet or burnt or
Caught in an avalanche
Because they’re loyal;
Steadfast and true
Even when you’re struggling
Even when you’re blue
You know that they’re just
A phone call away
A text message or WhatsApp
Whatever you’re way
Of keeping in touch
You know they’re there
When it all gets too much
They’ll give you your space
Won’t pressure or push
Support your decisions
Be they bad or good
Pick you up when you fall
As good friends should
I’m lucky enough
To have friends such as these
Who’ve stood the test of time
Who I don’t need to please
They know who they are
They know where I’ve been
The ugly side of me
They have too often seen
And yet they still choose
Me as their old friend
And I guess they will be
Until the very end.

BAD DAY FOR THE EGO (Good Day For the Soul)

A bad day for the ego is a good day for the soul
It’s taken some dents,
Given you a deeper sense
Of yourself
Been knocked down a peg
Or two.
Cut down at the leg
Your view
Of the world
Changes.
Rearranges.
Laying on the deck
After a reality check
Helps you reflect
That…
You’re not
As ‘good’
As ‘strong’
As ‘in control’
As without sin
As you thought you were
Playing with too much fire
Not kerbing your desires
Just makes you a liar
To yourself”