To Be Me

Poem by Linda Crate

freedom for me

will always be

existing

without strings attached,

if i didn't have to worry about

paying bills

then i would be free to travel

as my whims carried me;

don't know how we agreed to be

shackled to the demands

of the rich but i just want to live

not simply exist—

to be able to thrive and flourish and bloom

where i can as i am able without 

being too exhausted to chase the dreams

that make my heart flutter

outside of work,

because art and music and writing have

always offered me escape—

i want freedom from society because their

knives are so sharp,

and their greed is even more

sharp;

i just want to be able me without

apology and without being threatened—

freedom means being your whole 

authentic self without apology,

this is all i have ever wanted: to be me.

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Linda M. Crate's (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer who likes to incorporate elements of fantasy and mythology into her works.