Poetry has taught me

That I am lucky to be free.

I am lucky that I may speak,

That I may sleep,

That I may breathe.

I am lucky that I can listen;

I can be heard without insisting;

I can learn and I can dream,

And that is just because I’m me.

 

I can work or I can play,

Or I can take an entire day to do

Absolutely nothing

Because I don’t have to always be working

To know I’ll live another day.

 

I can look up and see stars.

I have no reason to fear bars.

I think of cages as metaphors

Because I’m free

And I’m okay.

 

But not everybody lives like me.

Not everybody is so free,

And I am lucky that I can read

To see the lives that they are living,

And learn the lessons they are giving,

Because although I am free

I can only be me.

That’s why I need poetry.

 

I need poetry to let me see

What it is like to not be free,

What it is like to walk to water,

To fight for life,

To always wonder

If there’ll even be a tomorrow.

Poetry teaches me empathy,

How to live another life for a few verses,

And makes me know that I will have a friend inside of me

Every time that someone reads my poetry.

It shows me how to share my story

And remember that every writer is just like me.