Freed From Her Shackles Poem by Eric Zinbabora Batung

From freedom into slavery I run
Like a prey running away from safety into a trap,
Only to see later that I was living in a fool's paradise.
From your warm hands into another's cold grip
My life and love was ebbing away.
But too late; my heart had already become one with hers
And to her shackles I was bound.

Soon she turned sticky and licky.
She grew sulkier and grouchier.
Every response to my plea was the chickiest and sassiest.
Then like a shadow from the past,
The memory of you bounced back to haunt me;
I hurt you for another that now hurts me.
I deserted you and made you cry.

One man calls out to another with heartache.
The other responds groaning in pain.
They speak in hushed tones,
Breaking bread of experiences
And drinking from their own cups of carelessness.
There are many of us after all,
In this exchange of the good for the bad.

Until you came back around I could not hope for better.
Yet there you stood above my lowered self and defeated pride.
I knew my judgment had come.
My only expression was the stream of tears.
As your sweet lips parted my heart raced for breath.
And I realised my condemnation was here.
And I waited to hear you say; "I told you so."

At last you spoke.
At long last the words rolled from your tasty and wet tongue.
My heart missing a beat and another and again.
They landed on my heart like the weight of a gavel on a table.
"It is over", you said.
"Welcome back to my heart."
Those words opened the doors of freedom from the tyrant.

'Where have you been all this while? ' I asked.
Out of the blue you appeared again
And walked right through the door of my heart.
And locked it right behind you.
You reestablished your kingdom
And personalized the promptings of my heart.

There you sit at the other side of the table.
Looking so beautiful and radiant;
Lips sealed with smiles
With your brave eyes fixed on mine.
What dazzling beauty I see!
Your style and class are unbeatable.

You have captivated my guilty yet innocent heart.
I want none again but you.
I truly love, respect and cherish you.
You, my Empress and beyond.
For it was you who rescued me from her stormy ways
And freed me from her shackles.