Emancipation Poem by Vinaya Joseph

I feel,
A strange hunger
For freedom…
Though I have,
Yet I desire…
A deep unfulfilling kind of starvation…
Can never get too much of freedom,

The thought lingers,
To play on my mind…

Freedom…
Intangible yet priceless,
You are like air,
Invisible yet vital for life,
I want to embrace you,
Don’t abandon me!
Without you,
I will be like fish without water

Give me the space,
To live my life,
The way I want to,
With whom I want to,
I understand there are constraints,
I understand that absolute freedom means anarchy,
But do allow me to make my own choices,
To create my own little world,
Free of dogma and prejudice…
Let me do,
What I want to do…
I don’t dream of an unreasonable world,
But a world of reasonable limitations…
A fair world, where justice is not a delusion
You may think,
I am talking of an imaginary world,
No, I am not…
I want to be free,
Just like the animals in the forest
Just like the birds in the sky,
Just like the busy ants,
Just like the squirrels on the tree,
Just like the horses running wild…


Give me freedom…
Freedom from anger,
Freedom from attachment,
Freedom from anxiety,
Freedom from bitterness,
Freedom from craving,
Freedom from chaos,
Freedom from depression,
Freedom from dilemma,
Freedom from doubt,
Freedom from diseases,
Freedom from despair,
Freedom from darkness,
Freedom from dirt,
Freedom from dislike,
Freedom from deceit,
Freedom from dishonesty,
Freedom from envy,
Freedom from egotism,
Freedom from insensitivity,
Freedom from failure,
Freedom from fear,
Freedom from frustration,
Freedom from fright,
Freedom from fury,
Freedom from fickle mindedness,
Freedom from grief,
Freedom from gloominess,
Freedom from hatred,
Freedom from irritation,
Freedom from imprudence,
Freedom from jealousy,
Freedom from lies,
Freedom from malady,
Freedom from medicine,
Freedom from narcissism,
Freedom from nuisance,
Freedom from oppression,
Freedom from pain,
Freedom from poverty,
Freedom from pride,
Freedom from resentment,
Freedom from rigidness,
Freedom from sorrow,
Freedom from subjugation,
Freedom from trouble,
Freedom from tears,
Freedom from torture,
Freedom from temptation,
Freedom from umbrage,
Freedom from vanity,
Freedom from wound,
Freedom from woe,
Freedom from wavering thoughts,
Freedom from yearning...

Freedom above all,
From these mountains of challenges,
That I am surrounded internally and externally...

Let me be like a bee,
That sucks the nectar
From the flower of life,
Without harming it…
Like the beautiful lotus,
That thrives in dirty pond water…
Let me enjoy the freedom,
Without disturbing others…
Free from all bondages,
Allow me to dwell,
To live
And let live,
A life of my choice,
To breathe
The fresh air,
To fill my world,
With the warmth of happiness…

Oh, Master
Give this servant
The freedom
From the precincts of life
Allow me to rest in peace,
In the bosom of your earth…