Only Truth Can Set Us Free. {poetry}
Exhibit 1:
Words came to me effortlessly
I called myself a writer, a thinker —
Until now.
The numbness stings my mind
the space in it is kicking for expansion
to equip me to learn better, to cope better.
Somewhat like when your consciousness stretches your mind
But this is not that.
Exhibit 2:
My heart is a fist pounding
against a cage meant to protect it
it has found a new voice to sing with
has heard the call
and wants to say a lot…
Your strength is your truth
and it is also another’s liberation
yes, truth can set us free.
I feel free.
I can breathe in the breeze
so it enriches the pit of my stomach
a bit more today,
just because of your truth
for only truth can set us free.
Exhibit 3:
“Are you saying we will all be free?
Are you saying we don’t need to suffer?
Are you saying this is a possibility?
Are you saying we deserve better?
Are you trying to tell me I am worth a lot more?”
Somewhere few silent survivors cannot still believe
the goodness, the courage made available to them
from people who will speak
truth, and own it as strength
those who will understand
no matter what and stand up for them.
They were told a lie they took for truth
that goodness and justice come at a price one must not be ready to pay
that they come for those who deserve them but who don’t demand or fight for them
that they come to those who suffer silently and pray
and paint their scars pretty and lick their wounds in a cave.
They are wiping this lie with anger now
angry with those who lied to them
so they could hide their own fears
or so they could fuel evil.
They know what doesn’t work for their good has to go now
they know there is never a price to pay for goodness and justice,
but there is one to pay for silence and suffering —
the price of disservice to oneself.
Exhibit 4:
“Is it really happening?
A revolution?”
asks a girl in a village
to her mother,
“The fight for your birth to me was a revolution”,
says the mother,
“we all have been revolting individually or in small
testing waters, cautious still.
It has been brewing in our hearts
and showing its true colors now.
because there is strength in numbers now
because from ashes you can’t burn any more
because from ashes you can only rise — phoenix-like
because from our own truth we can make us wings
because from our collective truth we can change our truth and begin.
Yes, it is a revolution
but it is only showing its true colors now
the colors of truth…
For only truth can set us free.”
Exhibit 5:
(Sorry, there is no room for pessimists)
***
Malvika Vazalwar is a dreamer who wants to leave no side of her personality unexplored and unexpressed. She is a wannabe practical person, a lifelong learner who respects experiential truth and authentic self-expression, a word-lover who discovered the joy of writing at the age of nine, and a truth-seeker. You could contact her via email or Twitter.
***
{Join us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram}