Painstakingly I formed and fused a gilded cage of golden hues
To house my bruised and battle weary heart,
Gingerly placed it deep inside, locked away that it might hide
In tiers of defense I had deemed as art.
With grand resolve and steadfast eye, stood guard, I did, should any guise
Of menace spear the bastion of my charge.
But as I heedfully stood my ground, it struck me the melodic sound
Once chorused by my heart was now a dirge.
Frantically I looked high and low, certain an unsuspected foe
Did infiltrate this stronghold great and strong.
“’Tis not a foe,” my heart did cry, “so near at hand that bids me die.
A deathtrap has this cage been all along.”
“My motive- love!” was my protest, “to keep you safe, ensconce you, lest
You suffer from an anguish unforeseen.”
“But should I ne’er embrace such pain, to know love’s touch, I then should feign,
Emancipation bowed to ‘could have been’.
The time has come to let me go, to set me free that I might know
The touch that transforms heart wounds into scars.”
I understood. The risk was great. In jeopardy was my heart’s fate.
And I let go… Thus fell away the bars.
-L. Walker - 2007
