“Freedom is not free”.
Everywhere, rules and conditions,
Bind and tether,
Entrap and enslave us.
The soldier under conscription
Must serve his country
Although he questions the cause.

Even the swallow,
Who seems so free,
Flying over the vast,
Expansive plains of Africa,
Is a slave to his instinct.

The running stream, flowing effortlessly,
Unhampered and unrestrained,
Wrapping around boulders,
Cascading down the
Hard rock,
Winding slowly and sluggishly
Where moorhens shyly hide in
Reeded beds, is ultimately forced to
Run downhill.
Freedom is only partial;
A shining tree hemmed in by a
Fence of commitment.
It is an island of beauty in a
Sea of ugly drudgery.
Freedom is not free.