Too Much ‘Self-Restraint’

There are many things that bother me,

I’m filled with sadness and ennui,

And deeper pain that you can’t see;

My soul is begging, “Set me free.”

But something in me says, “Oh no,

I’ll never, ever let you go;

I need your sorrow so I can grow,

Your constant pain is my life’s flow.”

I look around with jaded eyes

At all the things that life denies,

As all the while my heart still cries

Vainly reaching toward the skies.

There must be better things for me;

If I could bring myself to agree

And rise up from my aching knees,

I could set my spirit free.

If I found strength within my heart,

To step across my own ramparts,

And draw myself a new life’s chart,

Rebirth would have a chance to start.

Of all the enemies I have found

That try to chain me to the ground,

Keep me blind, gagged, and bound

Only one could ever hold me down:

The demon that is mostly me

Nurtures the pain that you can’t see.

It refuses to leave and let me be;

It keeps my soul crying, "Set Me Free!"

©3/26/2007 Thurman P. Woodfork

Dedicated to Gil Lewis