A Marvellous Mistake Poem by Shirley Harrison

She whispered in my ear, over our prosecco
She said
'I just need to be free'
she was just about to say I do to her second husband
I didn't have the heart to ask her why,
why was she getting married for the second time if she already knew she was a free spirit and wanted to be free?

but as I've learnt in my time on earth
sometimes it's better just to listen rather than ask awkward questions that I already know the answer too

Life is a jack in the box
things pop up and you just don't know when or what time or for what reason
and they can shake the core
of you and all those around you

what does it mean to be free anyway?
does it mean living happily inside one's self?
having confidence to believe in our own dreams?
belief that we can walk the street alone on our own two feet without doubts and worries of what's to come, or indeed what has been?

even eating alone at a restaurant knowing exactly who is paying the bill?
no undignified discussions
no guilt just pure pleasure because we got exactly what we paid for?

even flying above all the shite we all live with on a daily basis

could doing it alone instead of carrying extra baggage make us anymore free?
or do we carry the baggage regardless
and if we do
why is it so hard to actually take control of it?