Freedom's Downside Poem by Bryan Taplits

There's nowhere that I need to go,
Nowhere but release.
No 'intramural fantasies',
I've fought and tamed my beast.
I'm awaiting my parole to come,
Then I'll be free at last.
To dote on that which I must do,
To take on other tasks.
I'll never know what I have missed,
And 'not knowing' I won't care.
Those fearsome 'Barbarians at the Gate'
Won't keep me in despair.

I'll be another person,
No time to cry-or more.
I'll pick me up if I fall down,
And stroll right out that door.
No reminders of times long past,
Or chronologies confused.
Not knowing that I'm 'up' or 'down',
'I've won! (Or did I lose?) '
Not caring that I've spent my years,
'Regretful', I confess.
Dismissing daydreams not long ago,
Where I was at my best.

Erasing and uprooting,
Is all I want to do.
Dispatching all my dreams, my dear,
And my memories of us two.
I'll purchase a new wardrobe,
No time for me to rest.
Reveling in my new life and hopes,
So I not flunk the test.
Hence, now I'm fiercely working out,
To get back in the pink.
it's nice to be free;
It's Great To Be Free;
IT'S GRAND TO BE FREE;
...I think.