Marriage; A Decorated Prison Poem by Maureen Nanjala

I once watched people enter marriage with dreams in their eyes, convinced that behind those doors waited the happiness they had spent years searching for.Then, years later, I watched some of those same people stand by the window, looking out.They longed for the freedom they had left behind.And outside, the unmarried watched them with envy—believing the decorated home, the shared name, the ring, and the promise of forever were everything they were missing.That was when I realised something about life: Those who are inside often dream of getting out, while those who are outside dream of getting in.Perhaps the prison is not always the marriage. Perhaps sometimes, the prison is simply our belief that happiness exists somewhere else.