excess rusted broken  shackles
free from ancient gyves
tongues in dungeons no more
a present prisoner of forefather's  measures

ears drum no more
notes fall through the cracks
remodeling skips yet another age
future slavers of our descendants

emancipated you stand
a guests to a freeman's  world
you are no more
return us to the future
free from the present past.

                                   In mirrored minds we remain.

Freedom at no cost,
an escape not held by price.
A slave to this harsh living,
every breath like chains shaking.

Freedom from negative emotions,
the many that keep me down.
Self known for battling depression,
freedom I fight for, (to be alive again).

Freedom from many pains,
heartbreaks, disappointments, many regrets.
Many things keep me captive,
none of which should control me.
Why then do I call them my master?

Freedom I must obtain,
from a forced burden as a slave.
My will, (willing to be brave),
The sweet taste of freedom I'll have one day.

Helot today, and every other,
Go unpaid, go unmade,  
A broken body of myself,
Living in every possible way,
Save for my own,  
Always selling the soul,
The time that’s left,
Piece for price,
For profit, for my life,  
But yours to rent,
If you pay, please pay,
And it’ll be yours to store,
A deal nevermore.

"I can stop whenever I want," I thought.

Days pass on in a blink or two, nights even lesser
Sometimes they linger to catch their breath
while the moon sails like a leaking, exhausted raft—
forever rowing, never moving— in a silent sea
And even if I could grab hold of the sky
and spin her till a peachy blush lit up her face
what good would it do to this melancholy land?

When a grief-stricken snake banged at my door, one stormy night,
I let him in for his toothless, shivering lips
—blue like cold himself—
became the very cause of my liquifying heart;
what could the piteous reptile be offered but
a chalice of fresh, steaming, crimson blood
He gave me his ruby smile and I tied it around my neck
How do you repay such love— how so
if not by surrendering your own doomed flesh?

Did I, or did I not
Roam about narrow alleys of ancient cities housed with words?
make home with wounded rugs left
in places even orphaned kittens avoided
—slept like an unborn child through sunless hours of dark's embrace
Swam through tireless waters—
with a pillowcase filled with tales
Crowned by impressed kings in some lands,
robbed by faceless folks in others.
Carried a plank or two when stories stopped earning me food

All worth another flip of the unheard page
Did I or did I not then forget it all—

As winter moved on to the land next door
sky stole away the very snow she had once abandoned;
lifted the frosty veil off her sun's flushed face
But even as fox gloves and lilies opened their arms,
I let the snake stay in my castle walls
sent out an army and fought wars against stars
when he said he deplored the light
He grew up fast, developed a habit of hissing—

And the neighbourhoods passed like ecstatic tides
left behind by unstopping ships

The moon keeps chasing his blooming sun,
never too far from her rays
and they kiss in the mornings and kiss in the dusks
And the sky steals quick glances at sea,
as he smiles knowingly
The snake fills up a goblet of wine,
feasting upon treys filled with meat—roasted and boiled and baked

And I stumble through empty streets, vomiting out all but him—
Vomiting out all that’s left of me—

"I can stop whenever you want," he whispers.

They made him
A slave of The Past
A slave in the present
Creating slaves for the future

Through that little thing
He holds in his palms
You are holding right now

electricity!

you harnessed me,
caged me, running inside copper wires
made me do your bidding
enslaved me as the bringer of energy

you caught me,
dragged me up from the depths
coal-black, the liquid gold of oil
light from the nuclear furnace in the sky
ever-changing, shifting tides

electricity!
i make light for you,
drive giant machines, power countless engines
i am the foundation on which your entire world is built-

but i can also ****.
you may have intentions, a task for me to do
i have intentions too.

Through times of pain,
One can only do so much,
When it erupts and all is gone,
The heart takes over,
You are nothing but a puppet,
A slave of the subconscious,
Then you do an extreme deed,
Roses bloom,
Heart beats fast,
Rain pattering lightly,
The moment, sweet and unexpected,
Over in an instant,
Excitement fills the air,
Then it tumbles down upon you,
As all good things,
This, too, had a bitter end.

- Jay M
January 15th, 2019