Freedom

There is no such thing as freedom
We all are cuffed to something
Shackled to obligations
Not all of our choosing
Tied to economy
Or harnessed to duty

"Freedom" restricted is all we can have
We can move from place to place
But we can’t do what we want
We have to work, we have to spend,
We have to give, we have to be good
Doing what we want is punished

Maybe the rich can have a semblance of freedom
As they sail upon their yachts
Resting in the sun
But how did they get there?
Are the sharks still circling?
Can they lose all they have with one bad decision?

Or maybe the very poor, who have no obligation
Except to the grumbling tyrants in their bellies
That force them to beg, to grovel, to search
For tiny bits of food, by others rejected
And to wasting disease
That hovers all around them

There is no such thing as freedom
No one will admit it
Some will call it “liberty”
But all that means to me
Is that someone gives permission
To be conditionally free.

That is not freedom….