Freedom Crier

A small caterpillar

Crawling, delicately, over broken glass

So slow is her step,

So small, yet so stellar

Instinct says she will change

Years of evolution,

Years of pain.

She knows she can’t stay the same.

As days go by she watches the sky

Full of birds, of flies,

A sky full of promise and life,

Little did she know of the lies.

She wants to fly, she wants to be free

To be fast and beautiful, it seems like a dream

Young and courageous, she jumps like an eager flea,

To fly is her passion, to fly is her destiny

Small legs, fast heart

Big dreams, high steam.

All this work won’t be for naught

Or her heart will sink like a rock.

Day after day,

Night after night,

Not rising an inch off the ground,

Her beautiful sky, now a shade of grey.

Slowly, the resolve melts away

And slowly her esteem goes astray.

In a furry of passion, she builds a web

A web of broken promises,

Of lost lives, of stolen self.

Sitting in her cocoon of darkness, she broods

Never again will she dream,

Never again will she crash.

Longing for a life that isn’t so shrewd.

A ray of light pierces her web,

Feelings of dismay and screams,

Rush in with the beams

Too much spotlight,

Fit only for a celeb.

The outside world beckons her

Birds chirping and flies buzzing.

The caterpillar tries to crawl out,

Yet something disallows her to stir.

She struggles out of her darkness,

Fighting, twisting, turning,

An eternity passes, and she emerges anew,

Onto the broken glass, she tries to be harmless.

Rippling waters of the pond show her a sight

Scared and confused, she knows it’s not right.

Standing before her is a butterfly,

Art full red and whites hide her black spots,

And she knows this is her time to meet the sky.

Heart in her throat and soul on fire,

She leaps in the air like a master squire,

Feeling the wind under her wings,

She’s a flurry of colour.

Finally beautiful,

Finally, a freedom crier.