Seated Within Barriers Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Where was I 'trained'?
To use my brain?
To realize it had a better use...
Than to sit enclosed
And left not to expose itself,
To receive, perceive and deliver?

Limited to conditions,
I was not.
Disciplined with responsibility...
Came from my parents,
Who initiated my awakening.
And on many levels.

I felt restricted by depictions...
Of where I should be,
By those who were 'degreed'
To regurgitate philosophies,
That did not reflect...
A life in the projects.
I quite loved and accepted.

Where was I 'trained'?
To use my brain?
From teachers who attempted,
To keep me seated within barriers.
The ones selected to keep me subservient,
And self rejecting!
Somehow those lessons of limitation,
Activated my dreams!
The moment I discovered,
I desired to rush to be with those I loved...
While others were rushing to impress,
With the best of their redundancy!
I was being instructed to open my eyes.
Listen with my ears.
And observe the steps...
Of those who feared to adventure their own destinies.

I was 'trained' to watch them.
Learn to enjoy the taste of bitterness.
Forgive but not condone ignorance...
Whether mine or some outside affliction,
Meant to keep my life deluded!

Where was I 'trained'?
To use my brain?
Learning how to fly high from my nest.
Before any sign of wings came to sprout.
I was taught to figure it out.
My mind began an inside flight.
My insights did not need wings to fly.
And as long as no one provided boundaries,
They could not show and I refused to see...
The training of my brain,
Became my property!
Since I was too stubborn to confess,
A conformity I can reflect.
But the testing of it suits me best.
I am not restricted to shallow acceptances.
An observation that is obvious...
Does not confine me to take note!
Or attract what I need to feed me,
To sustain the light that is on 'my' path!

Limited to conditions,
I was not.
Disciplined with responsibility...
Came from my parents,
Who initiated my awakening.
And on many levels.
They had 'ways' to capture my attention.
And I developed a way to obey.
I wanted my journey to soar.
Knowing that obstacles faced...
Delayed but did not erase to replace,
My own separate wishes...
To become free and dismissed from fear!