This is the latest of my ‘effortless’ poems which I write down as fas as the words come, rather than trying to craft the lines in a ‘poetic’ or stylistic way.
A free spirit
Being a free spirit is what I want.
Sounds simple, but it means autonomy,
it means power we don’t all have,
it means choosing one’s own path
regardless of the desires of others.
Free spirits don’t need to tread
on weaker folk – that’s the road
that bullies take, to tyranny and worse,
especially with those they see
as weaker than themselves.
A free spirit feels free to love
whoever his fancy takes him.
Each one he meets is free to choose
to hold his hand and smile or not
whether wife or virgin or mother.
Freedom is having the power
and the will to say the special word,
and that is ‘No!’ especially to oneself
if tempted to hurt or to betray another.
since that will only turn and bite.
Knowing the strength and power
of love in all its forms has to be
the finest armor against all possible
sources of harm from hostile worlds
disarming every enemy that snarls,
Especially that inner enemy that’s
always waiting to stir up troubles
from long ago before one shaped
one’s lasting code of conduct,
and learned the happy way to live.
© Malcolm Miller 28.5.2013
Malcolm Miller's Poems 