Speak to me of Freedom: August 15 2016

Words of Khalil Gibran

At the city gate and by your fireside
I have seen you prostrate yourself
and worship your new found freedom
even as slaves humble themselves before tyrants
and praise him though he slays them.

You can only be free
when the desire of seeking freedom becomes your yoke
Your harness to drag with you
instead of just speaking about it as a goal, a fulfilment.

You shall be free indeed when your days are without care
You shall be free when your nights are without want and grief
When you rise above things that girdle your life and you are naked, Unbound
Break the chains which you at the dawn of understanding
have fastened around your neck like an ever tightening noose.
Dispel the seat of fear in your heart
Let not the hand of the feared
stay your wanting the dazzling chains of equality
glittering in the sun just out of your reach.

All things move within your being in constant half embrace
The desired and the dreaded
The repugnant and the cherished.
The pursued and that which you escape.
These things move within you as light and shadow.
Pairs that cling.
And when the shadow fades to oblivion
the light that lingers casts its mantle
to shine brighter than the brightest star.
It is this freedom that I claim