Free

Once upon a time...


     ...the door was shiny, new.
     I heard it lead to the path I should take.
     I knocked. 
     No answer.
     I turned the knob.
     No use.
     I turned the key.
     No click.


     Many times I tried again.
     Knocks.
     Knobs.
     Keys.
     No answer.
     No passage.
     No destiny.


     Days creeped into years.
     The doorway--an obsession.
     I beat. 
     I pled. 
     I cried.
     The door would not open.


     Years turned to decades, creeping by.
     Time was unkind...to me, to the door.
     Cracked and weathered, we both were worn.
     The walls surrounding me were prison. 
     Lost hope,
     Unending expectation,
     My companions.... 
     And the door.


     I ceased knocking on the ugly door.
     Without expectation to darken the way, peace was delivered.
     Tranquility brought me a state of grace.
     Grace brought words.
     The words made me smile, and laugh, and cry.
     Tears of joy, never known.


     I look at my walls now, and recognize my sanctuary.
     The ugly door no longer matters.
     My words are my comfort, my peace, my joy, unending.
     The road not traveled is now my home.
     The walls cannot contain me.
     My mind takes me where I want to go.


     I am 
         Free.


by DiDi Hendley
©6/1/2011