Free Again

Caught in the cage of time and apprehensions,

She never really knew the way freedom tasted like.

And that did not stop her from wondering -

If it tasted like the first breath in this world out of a mother's womb,

Or the first flap of wings in the skies?

She would always find herself gazing at the closed window

And then she would wonder if it was in fact closed -

Those windows, or had it been the windows within her mind

Which had been coerced into shutting down

After ages of inhibitions and curtailments.

It was not that she never wanted to break free of these fetters,

Those confines which had held her trapped, 

Yet seldom did she find herself gaining that courage 

To fight those bouts of diffidence which had been instilled into her,

Drilled into her mind for ages.

Yet one day, I know, she would gain that courage, that strength 

Of taking a fresh breath from a new birth of freedom, 

Of flapping her now clipped-off wings for the first time.

Someday, I know, she would be free again.