You Do Not Own Me! Poem by Eric Cockrell

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you do not own me!
you do not own my body!
i will not wear your chains!

i take off my shirt,
and show the marks on my back
to the world, defiant to the end!

you do not own my mind!
you cannot tell me what i can think.
you will not tell me

what i can and cannot read!
you cannot tell me what to believe.
i do not buy your lie!

you do not own my heart!
you cannot limit my ability to feel.
you will not tell me whom i can

and cannot love.
you do not own my words.
i speak from the scars on my body.

i speak with the thoughts
of a free mind... i speak
from the feelings of my heart.

you do not own me,
and you never will.
i have decided to be free!