Captive Poem by Susan Vredevoogd

A prisoner trapped behind the bars of society.
That is what I am. Do I have the freedom that is promised to me?
Judged by my peers. Stereotyped by society.
A budding rose cannot bloom without the water and
sunlight it needs for survival. Thus, it dies, in the cold,
dry shadows.
A fire cannot burn without the air it so desperately craves.
Thus, it dies, suffocated by the emptiness around it.
I am a rose, dying of thirst.
I am the fire, choking to death.
I am a prisoner trapped behind the bars of society.
Judged by my peers. Stereotyped by society.