Restraints Poem by Sree lakshmi

I’m a kite now,
Soaring through the skies,
Searing through the clouds,
Enjoying with my fellow-kites,
Laughing as we race to the sun.
They broke their threads,
Beckoning me to join them,
To find what is beyond the sky.
But I can’t…the pull is getting stronger now,
The thread is becoming stronger,
They are gliding away…asking me to join them,
But I can’t…the thread has become a string,
Pulling me to the ground,
I ask them to wait…but they can’t,
They are drifting away with the clouds,
I pull with all my strength but I can’t break the string
I remain rooted to the ground crying…
Soon the string becomes a rope,
I feel the passing of each second,
The fall of each sand in an hour-glass,
And I see the rope has become a chain - An iron chain,
Pulling me down, slashing through the air,
I fall to the hard bare ground.

I become a stallion,
Galloping through the lush green fields, neighing happily.
Cantering among stallions, mares, colts and fillies,
Knowing deep inside my heart that I can never run like them,
Pace like them, or gallop like them.
Tied onto a pole, knowing I am bridled
And its time, they run into wilds…
But I stay tied down to the pole,
The rein pulls me back…
I circle around the pole…crying my heart out…
Neighing alone…alone…alone…


Now, I am me,
Restricted by these four walls,
Crushed by them…pleading for them to open… but never…
The suffocating mouldy air crushing me inside out..
Seething with rage,
My spirit enclosed in here, not allowing it to grow…
Killing it, slaughtering my hope and smothering my spirit…
Destined to die with these walls,
I cry out… but I can’t get out…
Experience, touch, taste and smell nothing but these walls…
And I pound on these walls with my spirit,
Empowered by hope… but knowing deep inside that I shall never escape…

Inside these four walls I was born, it is here I die…
And I am rooted to the ground & here I stay…
Pounding on these walls,
Hoping to break them and get out….
This distant hope…This distant light is my power….