Freedom Poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
Such a sweet word!
But it can’t be presented as an award
even by our Lord.
Freedom is the main value of human life
but to get it you have to go through a strife.
Freedom is when you have a choice,
when you can hear your own voice.
You choose friends, books, teachers, films….
The rest is just program which you can’t change
but only manage this program to arrange.
The rest is just an illusion
with a lot of confusion.
Illusion of freedom, illusion of safety
generates violence and cruelty in our society.
But…anyway…with every right choice
you get more knowledge and life experience,
you get freedom without anyone interference.
One can feel free even in prison
being there for some reason.
But… having paper and a pen
that one can write a fantastic novel or a poem.
Flying in the dreams on ones own wings,
that ones heart a beautiful song sings.
At the same time a warden curses his slavery life,
he has no wish for any strife.
Freedom is a free will,
freedom is a free space,
when you don’t feel you are in a race.
You can’t take freedom from the shelf.
Freedom is an ability to be yourself
and act your own way.
But…let’s see what happens today!
Just have a look around!
So many crazy slogans can be found:
to legitimize prostitution,
to legalize abortions,
to allow marriage for homosexuals, ….
Are they cute or intellectuals?
The demand appeared to carry a gun.
But…freedom is when you don’t have to run
skinning the bullet late in the park
but enjoy your walk even when it’s dark,
even late at night and without a fright.
The free distribution of methadone
tells that our morality has gone.
We are not surprised to see those demands
but we are often indifferent to the slogans:
for free medical service,
for free education,
for eliminating starvation,
for the absence of homeless,
for a help to the defenseless.
Our society is going mad.
If only my dad could see all that!
He fought for freedom of our Land
but not for those crazy demands.
Food and Agriculture Organization
found the way out of starvation.
The experts from FAO believe
the insects will help the problem to relieve.
Insects, they say, have as much proteins
as any meat or any fish.
Don’t they deceive those naives?
Won’t it be funny to have such dish?
About a milliard of people on Earth
suffer an extreme hunger.
It seems the time has come
and we’ll have an insects monger.
We say that everything has a price.
So, we’ll soon eat not rice but mice.
Social phenomenon:
People are also goods as clothes and foods.
You can tell me: But it’s not my funeral!
No, my dear!
Though you have your own urinal,
though you have your own nightie
we all live in one society.
Sigmund Freud used to say:
“Most people do not really want freedom,
because freedom involves responsibility.
And most people are frightened of responsibility”.
One woman said:
“Sometimes it’s pleasant
to change freedom for dependence.
I will show him my love ability,
he will show me his confidence.”
Yes! We are all against violence,
we all see freedom in our own way.
The question of freedom is so important today.
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
Such a sweet word!
It can’t be presented even by God.

Larisa R (Odessa, Ukraine)