This week, to celebrate the ‘freedom’ theme of World Poetry Day, I’m sharing with you musings on the theme of ‘what is freedom’? It’s a piece of free-writing / poetry that may or may not end up in one of my novels.

So you get to see it first! I hope you enjoy it. And I’d love to hear from you, via the comments, on what ‘freedom’ means to you.

x Clare

What Is Freedom?

Unbuyable.
A choice we so often forget we have.
We confuse it with running away;
with hiding from our ‘have tos’;
with letting loved ones down.

But that isn’t freedom.

Freedom is about choosing
how much to enjoy life.
Do you want to drag your past around with you
like a Victorian coalminer
and his heavy, rusty old bucket?
Blackened?
Dusty?
Dark?
Cramped?
Bent double under the load?

Or will you let go of the chains
and soar through the cloudless blue sky
like a condor
catching thermals in the Andes?

Will you sing until your throat hurts,
like a child on an old wooden swing,
with its painted red seat,
that invites you to fly
and lose yourself
in its breathtaking view of the valley?

Freedom is like a gentle breeze,
tickling the leaves of the wise old oak tree,
reminding it how to laugh.

I hope you enjoyed the. I’d love to hear from you, via the comments, on what ‘freedom’ means to you. What has your relationship been with ‘freedom’, over the years? What is freedom for you?

x Clare

P.S. Could I tempt you to pre-order my new novel, which is currently with the editor and will be ready for you in early December? People who have the faith in me to order in advance help to hold me accountable, keeping me going, even if I’m secretly scared. Thank you! www.ClareJosa.com/youtakeyourselfwithyou/