Free

after Selima Hill

I want to be a bird

free to fly away when I don’t want to be here

I want to be a bird

to not have pallid problems and foolish fears

I want to be a bird

so that no-one can tear at my skin with hurtful jeers

just let me flap my wings and fly away

up and away from here

with a shake of her feathers

and a trill of her beak

she’ll take to the sky

and make a break for dawn

don’t try trapping me in a cage

don’t bother trying to smother my teenage rage

don’t even think about stopping me

because I’m going to be free

as free as a bird

can be